Just for Today or Maybe Forever
by MiszIceQueen10
Summary: Orihime has loved Ichigo for who knows how long, and Ichigo has just realized that he loves her. And FINALLY they get together. : 100% Ichihime and lovey-dovey scenes. COMPLETE, BUT IN EDITING MODE.
1. She will be loved

This is just an edit, nothing has changed. I decided to fix the mistakes in this story, that is all, so for those of you who have already read this story you can ignore the story alerts or whatever you get cause I'm not really changing anything... But for anyone who hasn't read this completed story, enjoy! :D

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The wind was crisp, blowing through auburn hair. Orihime Inoue was happily walking to school wearing a light gray sweater over her uniform, hugging her upper body nicely.

_Summer is over…_ She softly sighed and slid her book bag closer to her shoulder. _At least I'll see Kurosaki-kun today._ She smiled at that thought and walked to school faster. Once she saw Kurakara High School, her heart slightly skipped a beat and she smiled. Once she entered her homeroom, she was immediately attacked by Chizuru, who was in fact groping Orihime's huge boobs for her own satisfaction.

"Arg!" Orihime gasped out loud by the sudden force.

"My beautiful Orihime has come back! The beautiful princess-"

Chizuru was cut off by a hard kick from Tastuki, who was very pissed off.

"Tastuki-chan…" Orihime began.

"Don't you fucking dare attempt to touch her again, got it?" Tastuki yelled to Chizuru. She stood up from the floor and began to argue with Tastuki.

_Some things never change_, Orihime thought to herself. She glanced at the door and that was when she saw a strand of bright orange hair. Her breath caught in her throat and she started to blush.

Ichigo Kurosaki walked into the room, with a scowl on his face… as usual. But Orihime had always loved his scowl, it was his signature look.

"Morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime waved with a beaming smile.

Ichigo looked up and gave a slight smile. "Morning, Inoue. How are you?"

"Well, I'm okay, but I couldn't sleep well last night… I think the little blue men were tugging at my hair again, but they stopped at like 3 in the morning, so it's okay!" Orihime had begun to babble on, which had become a habit of hers whenever she was around Ichigo. He only raised an eyebrow at her "blue men" and didn't interrupt her while she was talking. Once she was done, he only replied with, "Well, that's good." Orihime nodded in reply and smiled.

"IIIIICCCCHHHIIIGOOOOOOOOO!"

Instinctively, Ichigo raised his hand into a fist and it collided into the face of Keigo.

"Morning, Ichigo," Mizuro said right after Keigo's arrival.

"Sup."

"That's not a way to treat a friend!" Keigo complained, his nose starting to bleed. Ichigo took no notice of his remark. He was only staring out the window, oblivious to his surroundings. He was thinking about the summer, Hueco Mundo and Orihime. He just couldn't forget her voice as she was yelling…

**Back at Hueco Mundo**

Ichigo could barely breathe at this point, his hollow mask slowly deteriorating. Blood was coming out from his left eye, a huge slash on his right arm and cuts all over his chest.

"Let's finish this, Ichigo Kurosaki," Grimmjow hissed. They went against each other at full force, sword against claws.

Orihime was up on the broken down building, watching the fight from above with Nel. Her Santen Kesshun was the only thing keeping the both of them from getting hurt.

Grimmjow gave a hard kick to Ichigo's stomach and blood spurted out from his mouth. Another kick, a punch… Ichigo immediately turned around and started to slash at the air with Zangetsu. Grimmjow then gave a surprise kick from behind and Ichigo kneeled over, his hollow mask disappearing even faster. That was when he heard it. Her voice.

"Don't die, Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo looked up and something within him happened. "I don't want you to get hurt anymore…"

**Back to reality**

"What's up with Ichigo?" Keigo whispered to Mizuro.

"Exactly what are you saying, Asano-san?" Mizuro replied, not looking up from his cell phone.

"What the hell do you mean 'exactly what are you saying'? You're not even paying attention to me! And stop with the formal crap, it's not like you!"

"What do you mean?" Mizuro had kept on texting, his eyes glued to the screen of his cell phone. Keigo slapped himself on the forehead and murmured a never mind.

The rest of the day went by in a blur and at the end of school, Ichigo found himself walking towards Orihime.

_What the hell am I doing…?_ He suddenly stopped and was thinking about turning around and to just go home by himself. That was when she yelled out for him.

"Bye, Kurosaki-kun! See you tomorrow!" Orihime began walking next to Tastuki, who had martial arts practice, but Orihime was walking her to the gym either way.

"Wait, Inoue!" Ichigo yelled out. Orihime turned around, puzzled. Ichigo himself didn't even know what he was doing.

_Oh my gosh, he's coming this way… Okay, calm down, Orihime, calm down…_

"Uhm, would you mind if I walked you home today?" Ichigo at first was looking into her bright, beautiful grey eyes, but then he looked down at the floor, blushing slightly.

Tastuki raised an eyebrow and Orihime's eyes widened.

"O-of course not, K-kurosaki-kun." She softly replied, looking down at the floor as well. Ichigo's head snapped up and slightly smiled.

"Uhm, okay. You don't mind me taking her away, do you Tastuki?" Tastuki had her hands on her hips and had a smirk on her face, as well as Ichigo.

"Tastuki-chan, I'm sorry, I-"

"Go, Orihime. I'll see you later tonight anyways… for homework." Tastuki smiled at Orihime, then glared at Ichigo and walked away.

"Ready?" he asked. Orihime nodded the both of them walked out of the school, side by side.

The sun was brightly shining overhead; the wind was softly blowing, leaves flying here and there. Both Ichigo and Orihime were looking straight ahead, sometimes glancing at each other. At times, they'd catch each other glancing at one another and immediately look away. There was a slight awkward silence between the two and Orihime didn't know what to do. So, she began to talk.

"Isn't today beautiful? Although, I wouldn't have minded if it was raining, either. I think it'd be even more beautiful if it were raining. The rain brings the sky and earth together, even if it's just a mere moment." Then, out of nowhere, a stomach growled. Orihime immediately put her hands to her stomach, her face getting redder and redder by the second. "S-sorry, K-kurosaki-kun… I guess I'm hungry… hehehe…" she put her hand behind her head and put on a goofy smile. Ichigo smirked and a warm feeling came about him.

_Dammit, what the hell is happening?_

_I'll tell you what's happenin', Kingy. Your fucking hormones are going haywire 'cuz of her. I don't blame ya, she's fucking hot. And look at that rack! Damnnnn, you better get a move on! Or else maybe someone better might get her and with those huge ass boobs, she'd get a guy in no time._Ichigo's hollow started to whisper in his head and Ichigo had accidently muttered out loud, "Shut the fuck up!"

Orihime looked at him puzzled, lost.

"Oh no! Not you, Inoue, it was my… my…"

"Was it the little blue men? Were they whispering in your ear?" Orihime asked.

Ichigo smiled and replied, "Yea, it was."

"Oh, I'm starting to not like those blue men. They're starting to be mean, but I thought they were only being mean to me. It's okay if it's only to me, but now they're going to you, Kurosaki-kun. Who will it be next? Tastuki-chan?" That was when Orihime gasped out loud and her eyes widened.

"I think Tastuki will be fine, Inoue. I think she's safe from the little blue men. And if they do mess with her, she'd beat them up in an instant." Ichigo had immediately said once he saw that Orihime was about to get a heart attack.

"Kurosaki-kun is right. My imagination is getting the best of me again, hehehe."

They had both kept on walking until they had reached Orihime's house. They bid their farewell, with a happy and giddy good-bye from Orihime and a simple bye from Ichigo. Though once they had departed from one another, the both of them couldn't stop thinking about the other.

**Later at Orihime's house**

"So, Ichigo walked you home today… that's big." Tastuki nudged her best friend and smirked. Orihime only giggled, but then she let out a soft sigh. "What's wrong? Did the jackass say something?"

"No, no. Of course not! Kurosaki-kun is a caring and nice person, and a great friend… And that's all he's going to be. Just a great friend." Orihime looked down at the floor and started to twiddle her fingers.

"Orihime…"

Tears began to slowly form and Orihime let them fall for a couple seconds and then finally wiped them away. "I'm fine with him being my friend. I'm satisfied with that, honestly, I am. I love him, there's no doubt about it, but I don't want to hurt him or put our friendship on the line just because of how I feel about him… these selfish desires…" Orihime paused and finally looked up at Tastuki and gave her a small, wavering smile. "He already does so much for me; saving me from Hueco Mundo, always protecting me… it's enough for me. He doesn't have to give me anything more."

**At Ichigo's House**

Once Ichigo entered through the front door of his home, a punch came at him and he swiftly dodged it. He then gave a quick sidekick, hitting its target.

"That's my son!" Isshin muffled out, pinching his nose together to try to stop the bleeding.

Ichigo didn't say anything and only went into his room.

"Ichi-nii, dinner is going to be ready soon!" Yuzu remarked as she watched her older brother walk up the stairs.

"Not that hungry, sorry Yuzu." Ichigo yelled without turning around.

He opened his bedroom door and saw Rukia on his bed, reading something about Chappy.

"Don't you get tired of that ugly-ass bunny?" At that remark, Rukia grabbed the book and threw it straight at his head. He was too slow to dodge it. Slowly massaging where the book hit, he sat down on his bed. He didn't say anything for a while, he was just staring into space… and that wasn't like him.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You're too quiet," Rukia commented.

"Huh? Oh… nothing."

"Nothing, my ass. What the hell is wrong with you? Wasn't able to defeat a hollow? Is your hollow within you coming back? Is –,"

"Dammit, shut the fuck up, will you? You talk too much. And no to everything you asked. I told you that nothing was bothering me."

"I know what's bothering him," a smug Kon but in. "It's about Hime-chan. The beautiful princess and that wonderful valley of hers…" Kon drifted off and slowly began to drool.

"What're you trying to get at, Kon?" Rukia asked with a smirk. Ichigo's eyes only widened that Kon was actually close to being right… okay, so he WAS right.

"Oh, right. Ichigo wants to protect her, hold her, kiss her, love her, marry her, and have beautiful love with-,"

"Shut the fuck up, Kon!" Ichigo loudly remarked, slowly becoming as red as a strawberry. He still had Kon's head squished into his mattress, in order to suffocate him so that he wouldn't blurt anything out anymore. Kon was wriggling under his strong grasp, and yelling, but it only sounded like soft muffles to Ichigo and Rukia's ears. "You promise not to say anymore shit?" Kon nodded as best as he could in his position and Ichigo slowly lifted his hand from Kon's head.

"He's been saying her name in his sleep!" Kon was able to blurt out before Ichigo could suffocate him again.

"HAHAHAHA!" Rukia laughed so hard that she fell of Ichigo's bed and started rolling on the floor. Ichigo could only deepen his scowl until he finally yelled out, "Shut up!" Rukia had ceased to laugh, but was still giggling. Finally she deeply sighed and looked at him. "Damn, what took you so damn long to notice?"

"What?"

"Gosh, are you still blind? Inoue has loved you for who knows how long! And you're just realizing that you have feelings for her too? Baka," Rukia stated.

"She's… had… feelings… for… _me_?" Ichigo stuttered. He couldn't comprehend that a girl as beautiful as her could have feelings for him.

"Do I have to repeat myself? Gosh, you're so stupid!"

"Shut up…" At that, he stood up and grabbed a gray sweater from his chair.

"Where're you going? You just got here." Rukia asked.

"Inoue's," was all he replied with.

**At Orihime's house**

"Okay, bye Tastuki-chan!" Orihime waved to her best friend and Tatsuki waved back as she walked down the block and left.

Orihime closed the door behind her and went to the sink to wash the dishes. Though, once she turned on the water, there was a knock on her door. _Who could that be?_ She wondered to herself. She slowly walked towards the door and only opened it a little to actually see that it wasn't a robber or little blue men, but instead, to her relief, it was Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun! What are you doing here?" Orihime finally opened the door all the way and Ichigo just looked at her, soft grey eyes meeting fierce eyes.

_Ugh, those eyes… the innocent look…_ Ichigo had to stop himself from thinking about her when he realized that he was just standing outside, looking like an idiot.

"Uhm, actually, I wanted to, er, talk to you, Inoue." Ichigo blurted out.

"Okay. Come in then," Orihime gave him a radiant smile and closed the door behind Ichigo. He realized that she didn't lock it.

"Aren't you going to lock it, Inoue?"

"Huh? Oh, I always forget." She laughed as she put her arm behind her head and locked her door. "Do you want something to drink or eat?"

"No thanks…" Ichigo had just realized that Orihime was in only a tank top and pajama pants. "Uhm, did I wake you up or something? If I did, I can just go home and let you go back to sleep." Orihime was perplexed until she looked at what she was wearing.

"Oh! No, no, no. You didn't disturb me. In fact, Tatsuki-chan had just left, so it's okay. I was just so comfortable around her that I changed into my pajamas. I usually can't sleep lately so I choose to clean up my house. I was about to wash the dishes, but then you came."

"Oh, then I can go if you want to finish cleaning up…" Ichigo was starting to go for the door when Orihime had waved her hands in front of him.

"No! I didn't mean it like that. He he." There was an awkward silence between the two until Orihime had remembered the reason why Ichigo came in the first place. "Er, what did you want to talk about Kurosaki-kun?"

"Oh, right. Actually…" Ichigo had no idea on how to start on telling her what he wanted to tell her. He's never done it before. That was when he decided to change the topic. "You said you couldn't sleep well. Why?"

"Oh, I've just been having dreams… that's all…" Orihime began to blush and she turned from him and began to walk into the living room. Ichigo followed right behind her. _Why would he care on why I'm not sleeping well anyways?_She began to think. In the back of her head a voice seemed to have whispered, _Maybe he really does care, but more than a friend…_ Orihime shook her head of thinking such nonsense and tried to have a logical answer. _Well, he is my friend, and he did go so far as to save me from Hueco Mundo… so he's just curious and wants to know as a friend… just a friend…_Orihime got so lost in thought that she didn't hear the question that Ichigo had just asked her.

"Inoue, did you hear me?"

"Oh, no, sorry."

"What kind of dreams have you been having?"

_You shouldn't tell him! It'll make him feel guilty!_ That was the first thought that popped into her head so she went with it. "Oh, nothing really. Its fine, I'll catch up on my sleep eventually." She softly smiled and that was when Ichigo took a step closer to her and he put his hand on her shoulder. Their faces were only a couple of inches away from each other and the both of them had the urge to lean in and close the gap between their lips… but neither of them did anything. Orihime stiffened at his gesture and Ichigo responded by softly squeezing her shoulder.

"Please, tell me, Inoue…" his voice was soft, his eyes smothering her, they were so fierce, she couldn't resist.

"I, uh, well…" she softly sighed and stepped away. She had to. She couldn't handle it anymore; the feeling of being loved by someone that she KNEW didn't love her. It was all a fantasy, and as much as she didn't want to, she had to face reality. "I said it was nothing, Kurosaki-kun." Even though her voice was soft and gentle, her words hit Ichigo's heart. He was kind of annoyed that she wasn't telling him so he pestered on.

"Inoue-,"

"They're nothing, don't worry about me." Inoue had turned her back on him once again, to try and hold back her tears that were coming, but that was when she felt him come to her and he turned her around. Ichigo held his grip on her, but not so tight as to hurt her.

"Inoue, please…" this time, his voice was soft and pleading. Orihime was caught by surprise by his tone of voice that she began to feel bad for not telling him in the first place. His hand moved from her shoulder to the back of her head and somehow their faces got closer.

"Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime seemed to have been pleading for him to step away and Ichigo was taken aback. _Rukia said…_ _Guess she was wrong._ He was about to step away when a thought came to him. _Kiss her. Let's see if she'll kiss back. If she doesn't then say sorry and move on._ He hesitated, just staring into her grey eyes, not knowing on what to do.

_His eyes are so mesmerizing… I can't look away, and I don't want to; plus to have his hand on me like this… I can be satisfied with this, and only this, for my whole life. I love him… but I don't want to ruin anything… I…_ Orihime was cut off from her thoughts once there was lip contact. Ichigo pulled her into him by her waist while kissing her, his eyes closed. Orihime's eyes widened by the sudden contact, but she didn't object… instead she just gave in. Her lips moved with his, and they partially opened, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth. She softly moaned and this made Ichigo to kiss her even harder. Orihime's arms were around his neck by now, one hand pulling him into her and the other clutching his orange hair.

Finally, Ichigo took his lips away from hers after a few more quick pecks and Orihime laid her forehead against his, looking down with her bangs covering her eyes. The both of them were panting, trying to catch their breath. Ichigo slowly stepped back and Orihime took her arms off of his neck and hair. Ichigo cleared his throat and looked up. He saw that Orihime's cheeks were flushed, her lips quite bruised from the force he had on her lips.

_She's so fragile…_ Ichigo thought. _This is why I must always protect her…_

_Can't believe he just… I just… My lips hurt a little…_ Orihime's thoughts were everywhere, and then the confusion set in. _Why did he? He doesn't… He can't… I'm weak, I'm not Rukia…_ Orihime had kept thinking that Ichigo couldn't love her, and as she kept thinking and thinking about it, tears started to form and slowly fall down her soft cheeks.

_She's crying? Holy crap, what do I do? Hug her? Well, what if she's mad at me? SHIT!_

"Inoue, if you didn't want me to kiss you, you could've pulled back… I understand if you don't feel the same way…" Ichigo's voice began to slowly lose its volume.

"Feel the same way? What are you talking about? Don't you love Rukia?" Orihime was way past confused, past perplexed; she began to get a headache. This was mind-boggling. _The little blue men must be hammering against my head…_

"ME LOVE RUKIA? FUCK NO! That's Renji's job… I honestly wonder when he's going to finally make a move on her, I swear," Ichigo snickered but the scowl came back onto his face. "Inoue, do you love me? I mean, like, I don't know…"

"I have loved you, do love and will always love you, Ichigo…" Orihime softly whispered. At first Ichigo didn't hear what she said, but then it began to slowly process into his mind. Even though his face held the same facial expression, his heart was jumping in joy. That was until he heard her sniffling again… "I was so confused on how you felt; I always thought that you loved Rukia. I mean, like, I guess you could say I was jealous… But I never said anything because I didn't want to ruin our friendship." Orihime lifted her head up and gave a small smile to Ichigo. "And then this happens! It's like as if I'm dreaming; not in the same world anymore. And you tell me that you love _me_…" She softly sighed and Ichigo walked closer to her. He stared into the teary grey eyes of hers and then he pulled her in for a hug. Orihime's eyes widened, but she gladly wrapped her arms around him and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I won't let go of you, Inoue. I will protect you and always be there for you. If I mess up just once, then I have failed my duty as a friend, and as your boyfriend." Ichigo plainly said this, but his mind was whirling. He had NEVER in his whole damn life EVER told ANYONE how he felt about them. And this one girl, this beautiful girl, was changing everything. Orihime widely smiled at the word of "boyfriend" and blushed. She then looked down, trying to control her feelings so that she wouldn't end up jumping up and down and pumping her fists in the air at this great discovery.

_He loves me, and for once, he's mine…_

_She loves me, and for once, she's mine…_


	2. Don't Stop Believing

Here's the second chapter to my story. Thank you to all who have commented and added my story to your favorites! I really do appreciate it! And shout-out to my bestie EverAngel27 who has supported me from the start of my first fanfic about Hitsugaya. :P (It wasn't as good as my ichihime fanfic, so don't bother reading it.) I'm gonna try and update as soon as possible! Anyways, here's the story!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, and if I did, Ichigo and Orihime would already be together.**

**EDITED VERSION.**

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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

THUMP!

"Ow…" Orihime muttered while rubbing the back of her head as she slowly stood up from the floor. She squinted her eyes from the sunlight seeping through her window and softly yawned. _Got to get ready for school_. Orihime's heart jumped a little, knowing that she'd see Ichigo again. She softly sighed in happiness at last night's occurrence. She then ran to take a shower, thinking that if she gets ready sooner, she'd see her new boyfriend sooner as well.

**One shower, two blouse changes and three minutes later**

Orihime brushed through her hair and clipped on her hairpins from Sora. They glistened as the sun hit them, and Orihime sadly smiled as she thought of her brother. The sound of three hard knocks on her front door snapped her out of her memories. "Coming!" she yelled out. She walked towards the door and opened it with a smile on her face. Her smile got even bigger when she saw who it was at the door. "Kurosaki-kun!"

"When are you gonna just call me Ichigo?" he remarked.

"When are you going to just call me Orihime?" she stated back. Ichigo stayed quiet and Orihime only giggled.

"Uh, so you ready?" Orihime lifted up one finger and Ichigo saw her run to her room and come out with a sweater at hand and her book bag on one shoulder.

"Ready." She stepped outside and closed the door softly behind her and was about to walk down her steps. Ichigo grabbed her arm and his head tilted towards the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Inoue?" At first she was confused, but then it finally came to her. She laughed that he cared so much about her locking the door and took out her house key. She then turned around and said, "Happy?"

"Very. Now we can go."

They walked towards the school side by side and when they were halfway there, Ichigo took Orihime's hand and held it for the rest of the walk.

Once at school, Orihime was going to let go of Ichigo's hand, thinking that he may be too embarrassed to have his friends see him holding hands with her. Instead, he only held her hand tighter and Orihime's heart warmed.

Once the couple had entered their homeroom, everything and everyone went quiet. Orihime's face reddened and looked down. Ichigo then had to give her a little tug for her to keep walking into the classroom.

"Ichigo Kurosaki… and… Orihime Inoue?" Someone in the back gasped out.

"He was seriously able to get a girl like Orihime…?" someone else had whispered loudly. This only made Ichigo's scowl deepen and Orihime's face to go crimson.

Then a soft chant started. At first, neither Ichigo nor Orihime could hear what they were saying, but the voices began to get louder and finally they understood the words. This made Ichigo want to punch whoever started the song and Orihime to want to runaway… obviously with Ichigo.

"… K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the-"

"Hey! Why don't you all shut the fuck up! Are we in kindergarten again?" Tastuki was standing on top of a desk, her hands on her hips, fire in her eyes. Everyone then shut up and Tastuki hopped down from the desk. Slowly, the regular chatter of the room went back to normal and Orihime was able to finally look away from the floor. Tastuki walked up to the couple and Orihime gave her a strong hug.

"Thank you, Tastuki!" At first, the martial arts champion was surprised, but she gave a hug back anyways.

"What're friends for, Hime?" Tastuki replied as she let go. Orihime brightly smiled and gave her another hug. Finally, Orihime let go and stepped right next to Ichigo. Tastuki looked at Ichigo, expecting a thank you as well. Not as touchy as her best friend's, but still something.

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Ichigo had his right hand behind his head and was looking up at the ceiling. Tastuki smirked and left the couple alone. Of course not for long…

"ICHIGO IS WITH MY PRINCESS!" Chizuru yelled out. She ran to him, but was quickly brought down to the floor with a swift punch from Tastuki.

"Leave 'em alone! You got that? And Orihime is NOT your princess! Try to get that processed into that stupid lesbian head of yours." Chizuru was still on the floor, too angry to want to get up.

Orihime and Ichigo only stared wide-eyed at what had just happened before their eyes, but tried to not think about it so they chose to talk to each other instead.

"Inoue-,"

"Kurosaki-kun-,"

The both of them softly laughed and Ichigo motioned for Orihime to start with what she wanted to say.

"Uh, I was just, uh, wondering… if… you were going to… uh…" Orihime paused, scared to continue.

"If I was going to what?"

"Uh… if you were going to…" she paused again and Ichigo frowned.

"You can ask me anything, you know that right, Inoue?" She nodded, but she couldn't get out what she wanted to say. "Inoue…"

"I was wondering if you were still going to walk me home!" Orihime blurted out. Ichigo was a little disappointed, thinking that the question was going to be something a little more personal… or something that wasn't obvious.

"Of course. Isn't that what boyfriends do with their girlfriends? Walk them home?"

"I guess…" Orihime softly whispered. There was a moment of silence between them, but then Orihime remembered that Ichigo had to tell her something as well. "You wanted to ask me something before, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Oh, right. I was just hoping you wouldn't mind me taking you somewhere else before I drop you home." Orihime's mind wandered to where he might want to take her, and then she thought as to what might happen… _I can't think such thoughts! I must stop! Stop! STOP!_ She shook her head, but Ichigo thought that she meant it as a no. "Oh… well, that's okay."

"No! I mean, I don't mind! You can take me where ever you want to take me, I mean, oh that sounded wrong…" Orihime began to blush furiously and slapped herself in her mind for acting so stupid in front of her boyfriend. Ichigo only smirked seeing her blush and he was partly laughing as well now knowing that she too sometimes slips in her head.

_Who knew she even thought of me in that way…_ Ichigo thought to himself, still watching Orihime argue with herself in her mind. _Well, you definitely think of her in that way!_ A familiar, but annoying voice popped into his head._You just wish you could pull her into you, and then-_ _Shut the fuck up! I respect Inoue. I respect her! …_ He then scowled deeply and was pissed off at himself for allowing his inner hollow to be able to piss him off. And the way he talks about his girlfriend! _I'm just tellin' ya what you really feel, Kingy. Well, your physical feelings. He he._

"Are you okay, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime's soft voice brought Ichigo out of his own thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied back reassuringly. Orihime smiled at him and then she walked to her seat seeing that their teacher had come into the room. Ichigo walked to his seat as well and began to stare out the window.

The rest of the day had gone by quickly and normally, minus the stares that the couple had received. As they were heading out of school, Orihime had remembered that she wasn't going straight home. _Wonder where he's taking me…_ She was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't feel that she was already holding Ichigo's hand, which she usually started to freak out about inside her head. Although, Ichigo didn't realize that he even made the gesture, it seemed like second-nature to him… even though he just started that day. _Hope she likes where I take her…_Ichigo glanced at Orihime and that same moment, a soft breeze came and softly rustled Orihime's hair away from her face. His breath caught in his throat and his mouth felt dry out of nowhere. He had this urge to just pull her into him and then after that thought, he felt other urges as well. He cleared his throat, trying to suppress his feelings. Orihime had then glanced at Ichigo and saw that he had a weird look on his face, like as if he was, well, constipated.

"Are you okay, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked worriedly.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah." Ichigo cleared his throat again. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He nodded and softly cleared his throat once more. "Is your throat hurting you? I could take you home for once." At this, Orihime smiled, but Ichigo had only gone wide-eyed. He couldn't help, but to imagine his family meeting Orihime.

**Ichigo's Imagination**

Ichigo enters his front door, Orihime right behind him.

"IICHHIIGOOO!" Isshin yells out, his arms outspread. Ichigo instinctively punches his father in his gut and he slowly falls down to the floor. "That's my son…" Isshin was able to grunt out. Ichigo turned around to see Orihime, who was in fact pale and wide-eyed.

"Ichi-nii, you should've told me there was going to be company! I would've made more food for dinner." Yuzu says, popping out of the kitchen. Leaning against the wall, Karin whistled. "Wow. I can't believe you were able to bring Orihime to our house." She then smirked and Yuzu gasped. "Karin!" Ichigo's scowl only deepened.

"Of course my son brought home a girl such as Orihime! We, Kurosaki, have charming personalities! And we're great in bed." At this, he winked at Orihime who had blushed furiously. Ichigo then punched him again, but on his face, and yelled out, "Shut up, old man!" He then sighed and motioned for Orihime to go up to his room.

"It was nice meeting you!" Orihime yelled out as she was going up the stairs.

**Back to reality**

Ichigo shuddered, knowing that it could be worse.

"No, you will _not_ take me home. Thank you, Inoue, but I'm fine." Orihime then began to feel bad, thinking that maybe she was pushing him too much. And she wasn't that type. She was just worried. Ichigo had then realized that something was wrong since his girlfriend wasn't talking as much and as bubbly as usual. "Uh, are you okay, Inoue?" She looked at him and gave a small smile and nodded. Then, as quick as the nod was, she turned away looking straight ahead of her.

_Maybe I hurt her feelings… But how?_ Ichigo began to try to think of something he may have said that was either offensive, perverted, or just… mean. As hard and long as he thought (which wasn't very long), he gave up and decided to just ask Orihime.

"Did I say something that has upset you, Inoue?"

Orihime went wide-eyed, now realizing that she was being an open book. "Of course not! I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun. I'm just being a little… pensive, I guess." She then lightly laughed and tried to lighten the mood by talking. But once she tried to talk, her stomach growled. Orihime immediately went to apology-mode and turned to a deep shade of red. Ichigo could only bite his lip, trying to suppress his laughter.

"I'll take it that you're hungry. C'mon, I'll take you somewhere to eat."

"No! You really don't have to do that, Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo began to walk ahead of Inoue, heading towards a little town that had a donut shop, supermarket, ice cream shop and a restaurant. "Wait! Kurosaki-kun, hold on!" Orihime began to jog towards Ichigo and she grabbed his hand. He turned around and smirked.

"Missed me already?" he joked.

Orihime only turned red and began to stutter. "K-kurosaki-k-kun! I-I… uh…"

Ichigo then pulled her closer to him and held her face with his left hand and still holding Orihime's hand with his right. Orihime's eyes widened and Ichigo's eyes pierced into hers. Her legs began to tremble and he could feel her losing her balance. He decided to end her torture and gave her a quick peck on her forehead.

"Stop getting all hormonal on me, Inoue." Ichigo smirked and kept the both of them walking.

"I-I was not! Ichigo!" At that, he stopped and turned to her.

"What did you say?" he softly asked.

"I was not…" Orihime whispered.

"No, after that," Ichigo continued.

"…Ichigo…?" Orihime said after a moment's pause.

Ichigo then quickly pulled her in and kissed her fully on her lips. Orihime's eyes dilated twice their size, but she calmed down and closed them. He held her neck with his left hand and held her waist with his right. Both of her arms went around his neck and her right hand slowly went up into his hair. They finally pulled apart, and the both of them cleared their throats.

"So, you were hungry right?" Ichigo said, trying to break the awkward silence.

"You really don't-," Ichigo held up his finger to her lips and Orihime didn't say anymore.

They walked to a small café and the cute couple stayed there for a while and just enjoyed each other's company. Once it was around 7, Ichigo decided to drop Orihime off home.

"Let's go, Inoue."

"Hai, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime hopped down from her stool and grabbed her sweater from the behind the chair. She stepped outside with Ichigo right behind her and a gust of wind passed by. Orihime slightly shuddered, but even the slightest thing, Ichigo had noticed it. Without saying anything, he shrugged off his jacket and put it over Orihime. She looked up to him and smiled. "But you're going to get cold, Kurosaki-kun."

"Better you than me, Inoue." He then wrapped his arm around her and Orihime leaned her head against his should and they walked the rest of the way in that same position.

Once they reached at Orihime's house, Orihime gave Ichigo his jacket back and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you. Goodnight… Ichigo." She smiled and was about to enter her house when Ichigo had said something.

"Uh, no problem. And goodnight, Orihime." He gave a small smile and waited for her to go inside.

She softly closed the door behind her and sighed contently. It seemed like her insides were going to burst from joy any minute.

Ichigo began to walk away and the place where Orihime had kissed him was still warm. His hand softly traced the spot and he felt that his heart was going to explode from the happiness that this one girl was giving him.

* * *

Okay, here's the second chapter! The ending wasn't like a BAM or anything, but it wasn't sucky either… if it was, tell me what I did wrong! Please review! I'd love the advice! Plus, reviewers will get a flying ninja that looks like Ichigo! ^^

On the third chapter: A couple of months have passed and it is… WINTER! Orihime has no one to spend Christmas with since Tastuki's family is going away. Her only option is… to stay with the Kurosaki family and spend the holidays with them! What will happen? Well, you have to wait and read!


	3. You and Me

Okay, I know. This third chapter took kind of a while… I apologize. I got pretty lazy, but reading other Ichihime fanfics got me going. :D Well, lemme shut up and let you read the chapter. Oh, the day is Friday, right before the winter break. Now you may proceed…

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo.**

**EDITED VERSION.**

* * *

Orihime silently closed her front door behind her and locked it. She immediately shoved her hands inside her coat pocket to try to stay warm. She skipped down her steps and began to hum a song to herself. Snow crunched underneath her brown boots and all of a sudden, she heard quick heavy footsteps come running behind her. She turned around and saw a certain orange-haired boy come running up to her. Ichigo stopped in front of her, panting.

"Morning, Ichigo." She smiled and her body warmed at the sight of him, despite the cold.

"Morning," Ichigo took a deep breath and stood up straight, "Orihime." He gave a small smile and his breath caught in his throat when he saw her. Orihime had on her light green coat, but even though it was a coat, it still accentuated her body nicely, but in a modest and innocent way. The wind had caused her cheeks to be a little more rosy than usual and this only made her grey eyes seem to stand out more.

"Ichigo, you okay?" Orihime asked, interrupting his thoughts. He only cleared his throat and nodded. Ichigo smacked himself on his head once Orihime had turned around. Quickly walking up to Orihime as to catch up to her, Ichigo grabbed her hand and prepared himself to ask a question he has been trying to and trying not to avoid.

"Uh, Orihime?" He began. She looked up at him, a slight smile on her face. "I was meaning to ask you…" At this, Orihime stopped walking and turned towards him, still holding his hand.

"Yes?"

"I was, uh, wondering if you… wanted to…" Ichigo paused here and Orihime's heart began to pump a little faster. She didn't say anything, waiting patiently for him to go on. "If you wanted to… to spend the holidays with me and my family…" Orihime's eyes widened and she hugged her boyfriend in delight.

"Of course! I'd love to!" She then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which made Ichigo blush. Orihime then stepped away and the couple kept on walking to school. Though, Orihime had stopped once more and had a puzzled look on her face.

"What's wrong, Orihime?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"I thought you never wanted me to meet your family…" Orihime had stated. Ichigo grimaced; he never thought that she'd remember something that he told her months ago.

"Uh, let's just say I got convinced." He gave her a weak smile and Orihime didn't want to seem nosy so she didn't go any further upon the topic. Ichigo sighed in relief, but shuddered at the memory of him being "persuaded".

**One week earlier**

"Ichi-nii! There's someone at the door for you!" Yuzu yelled out.

_Who in the hell could that be?_ Ichigo thought to himself. He stepped out of his room and walked down the stair towards the front door. He was sort of hoping it'd be his girlfriend, but to his disappointment, it was the martial arts champion.

"Tastuki! Why're you here?" Ichigo asked.

"Does there have to be a reason?" Tastuki added in. Ichigo didn't go any further upon the subject as to not get beat up. "Look, this is gonna be quick. I hate asking this, but can you do a favor for me?"

"Uh, it kinda depends on what it is…" Ichigo didn't dare think as to what kind of favor his old childhood friend would ask of him.

"Can you have Orihime spend the holidays with you?" Ichigo was not expecting this.

"With me and my family? Fuck no! That'd be a damn nightmare! Do you know what my father might do to her?" He hissed.

"Dammit! C'mon! She's gonna spend the holidays alone, and I don't want that! And I'm sure that you don't want that either!" Tastuki then pointed a finger at him and poked him hard on his chest. Ichigo stayed quiet. "Look, I'm going away next Wednesday night with my family and I would love to invite her with me-,"

"So why don't you? It's better than her staying with my family!" Ichigo interrupted.

"I can't you dumbass! My relatives are gonna be there and my parents say that I have to 'bond with them' and that if I brought Orihime with me, it'd affect my 'bonding'," Tastuki put her hand up and did "quotes" when she said "bonding." Ichigo sighed and started to massage his head. He loved Orihime, but he loved her so much that he didn't want her to get so freaked out by his family that'll cause for her to break up with him! It was a selfish thought, and he knew that… and he knew that Orihime's heart wasn't like that and most likely if she was weirded out by anything, she wouldn't show it. Ichigo groaned and once he did that, Tastuki punched him in his gut and Ichigo kneeled over.

"What the fuck, Tastuki!" Ichigo was able to grunt out.

"Say you'll let her stay with you over the holidays!" Tastuki was then about to kick him where-the-sun-don't-shine, but Ichigo was able to yell out yes just in time. Her foot stopped about a centimeter away and she let it down. "Knew you'd cooperate." Tastuki smiled and Ichigo groaned once more.

**Present day**

"Ichigo are you okay? You look… pained…" Orihime stated. Ichigo looked up and he realized that they were already in homeroom.

"Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about something. Don't worry about it." Ichigo then looked away and Orihime took that as to not ask about it anymore.

The rest of the day went by quickly, and the final bell rang for the dismissal for the students at Karakura High School. The teens animatedly talked about what they were doing over the winter break and where they were going. Orihime was putting away her books when she felt someone's presence behind her. As she turned around, she saw that it was in fact her close short black-haired friend.

"Rukia!" She stood up and hugged her and Rukia only awkwardly hugged her back.

"I heard about you staying over at Ichigo's house for the holidays," Rukia winked and Orihime blushed red.

"W-well, it's not like a-anything will h-happen," Orihime stuttered. Rukia only chuckled. "Are you going to spend it with us?"

"Oh, no. I'm going back to Soul Society to spend it with my brother…" Rukia then trailed off and began to blush slightly.

"What's wrong?" Orihime asked worriedly.

"It's nothing. I'll see you in a couple weeks." Rukia smiled and Orihime pulled her in for another hug. Rukia only patted her back. "Have fun with Ichigo." Rukia winked and walked away as Orihime's face flushed.

"What was that about?" Ichigo asked behind Orihime.

"K-kurosaki-kun!" Orihime shouted out instinctively.

"She said something hasn't she? You haven't called me that in a while." Ichigo observed.

"N-no! It was nothing. Really. Let's just go." Orihime smiled and Ichigo had decided to let it go.

"I'll walk you to your house so that you can get everything that you need. Is that okay?" Orihime nodded and they walked out to the snow awaiting them outside.

As they were walking, Orihime had stopped and bent down as to tie her shoes.

"Go on, Ichigo. I'll be fine." She smiled and Ichigo, a little confused, had slowly turned around and slowly walked ahead. He then felt something wet hit the back of his head and he quickly turned around, ready to curse someone out. He only saw Orihime who was whistling like nothing had happened and she had walked right past him. He smirked and he slowly walked right behind her, whistling as well. Orihime had stopped whistling and was constantly glancing behind her towards Ichigo. She had a playful smile on her face and that was when she ran.

"You can't catch me!" She laughed out loud.

"We'll see about that!" Ichigo yelled back out. Obviously he quickly caught onto her and he wrapped his arms around her. She giggled, and was wriggling under his grasp. "Oh, you're not getting away, _princess_." She then laughed out loud joyfully and looked up at him. He had a soft expression on his face; a look of content and peace.

"I love you, Ichigo." Orihime softly whispered.

"I love you too, Orihime." He then tilted her face up and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. Once they broke apart, he held her hand tightly and they both smiled at each other.

Once at Orihime's house, they both went inside and Orihime began to gather everything that she would need of a week's worth of necessities.

"I won't take long Ichigo!" She yelled from her room.

"Don't worry. I'd rather for you to take the whole day and have everything than to take a minute and forget everything." Ichigo responded back, his eyes roaming around the small, but cozy living room. Orihime didn't come out too long after that and she announced that she was ready. "Ya sure? You got your toothbrush, pajama's, clothes, uh… hair dryer?" Orihime laughed and nodded. "Okay then. Let's go." Ichigo grabbed the duffel bag that she brought out, against Orihime's wishes.

"I'll carry it! Really, it's not that heavy! Ichigo!" He had already walked out the front door, waiting for her outside. Orihime grabbed her coat and locked the door behind her. They began to walk to Ichigo's house and the closer they got, the more Ichigo got nervous.

"Uh, are you okay, Ichigo?" Orihime asked. He nodded, afraid on how his voice might be. "Okay, if you say so…"

They had finally arrived at Ichigo's front door and he hesitated to open.

"Uh, Ichigo, are you going to open it…?" Ichigo nodded once more, but he didn't make any gesture as to show that he was going to open it. Finally, he slowly reached out and the door creaked open.

**One Week Earlier **

After Tastuki had left, Ichigo had then contemplated on how he was going to tell his father and his sisters. _Crap… What did I just get myself into?_

"What's wrong son?" Isshin asked, interrupting Ichigo's thoughts.

"Uh, I just wanted to tell you something."

"Masaki, do you hear this?" Isshin yelled at the poster of his love. Ichigo only got annoyed by this. "Our son wants to tell us something! He's finally communicating with his dear father! He may just love-,"

"Shut up, you old goat!" Karin yelled out. "And you should throw away that damn poster. It's so annoying hearing your psycho self talk to it all the time."

"What's going on?" Yuzu asked, just walking into the scene.

"Ichigo was about to tell us something." All three eyes went to the strawberry boy.

"Uh… right, I was. What I was gonna say was that someone else is going to… uh… spend the holidays… with… us…" Ichigo then cleared his throat to try to get the awkwardness out of him, but it didn't help.

"Who, Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked.

"That's a great question, Yuzu! That's my daughter! Yeah Ichigo, who is it?" Isshin asked in a childish voice.

Ichigo cleared his throat once more. "Orihime…" he softly whispered.

"Eh?" the three asked, not hearing what he said.

"Orihime." Ichigo said again, a little bit louder.

"Eeeehhhh?" It seemed the trio needed hearing aids…

"ORIHIME, OKAY!" Ichigo yelled out. Karin's eyes slightly widened in surprise and Yuzu was then talking to herself about having to buy more food. Isshin then ran to the poster of his lovely wife once more.

"Masaki! You hear that! Our son is really truly becoming a man! He's bringing a girl over for the holidays, and she's actually pretty! Oh, what joy!" Isshin then twirled in great delight and was immediately knocked down by a hard punch.

"Shut up, old man! And take that poster down! I don't want Orihime to get more freaked out than she will be once she meets you!" He then walked away from the groaning man and headed to his room.

**Present Day**

The door slowly opened and there was no sound within the house. The lights were off and the wind rushed by. _It's quiet,_ Ichigo thought to himself. _Too quiet…_

"Uh, Ichigo? Aren't you going to go in?" Orihime softly asked. Ichigo nodded once again. "Ichi-,"

"Sh!" Ichigo put his finger to Orihime's lips. "C'mon," he whispered. Orihime, perplexed, did as she was told. Ichigo slowly walked in, tip-toeing and Orihime had only looked at him weird. She softly took off her shoes at the entrance which a small **thump**. Ichigo took another small step and… **ccccrrreeeaaakkk!**

"SURPRISE!"

"Shit…"

"…"

The living room was filled with Christmas decorations. There were lights hanging on the top of the walls making the room brighter and more colorful than it actually was, stockings were hanging above the fireplace, and there was even a small winter village on the middle of the coffee table.

"It's so pretty!" Orihime was awed by the beautiful decoration. Though, when she reached one corner of the room, it seemed empty. She looked at it questioningly and Isshin saw this.

"We put the tree in that corner. I haven't bought it yet since I was hoping you would help us decorate it." He gave a warm smile and Orihime was touched.

"Thank you. I would love to." She gave a big, warm smile to him and there was a small moment of silence.

"I'll, uh, put your stuff in my room… for now." Ichigo said, walking towards the staircase.

"Hi, I'm Yuzu!" Yuzu stepped in front of Orihime and gave her a hug. Orihime gladly gave one back. Once they stepped away from each other, Yuzu added, "Hope you have a big appetite!" Orihime only laughed.

"Sup, I'm Karin." Karin yelled over from the wall to Orihime's right. She was leaning against it, not bothering to move, but she still smiled to Orihime.

Heavy footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and Ichigo had re-entered the room. "Uh, make yourself comfortable. After all, this is gonna be your home for quite a while." Orihime was then sitting on the couch with Ichigo next to her. He was then staring at the wall to his right and saw that it was quite empty… the poster! Deep inside, Ichigo was quite glad that his father or whoever it was had taken it down.

"Hime-chan! I really do hope you like Yosenabe," Yuzu yelled from the kitchen. Orihime's eyes widened in surprise and her stomach growled in response. She began to blush, embarrassed that her stomach has growled in front of her boyfriend too many times. Ichigo tried to keep his laughter in by biting his lip and he was finally able to calm down.

"Yes, she does Yuzu," Ichigo responded for her. Orihime smiled at him and he only leaned back into the couch.

There were loud **clanks** and **clonks **of pots hitting against one another and that was basically the only sound in the house… other than the Christmas music playing from the radio.

"_Let it snow,_

_Let it snow,_

_Let it snow!"_

Orihime softly hummed the song to herself after it was done and she finally stood up from the couch.

"Everything okay, Orihime?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"Mhm. I'm just going to help your sister out in the kitchen." With that said, she turned around and headed towards Yuzu.

"You really don't-," Ichigo began. But he spoke too late. Orihime had already grabbed a blue and orange checkered apron and had asked his little sister in what she could help in. Yuzu objected that she didn't need any, but Orihime wouldn't take no for an answer. So, Yuzu told her to begin to make the salad. Orihime gladly accepted and began to work in the kitchen.

_She looks so… she looks like… she is like…_ Ichigo softly sighed to himself and sat down at the dining table, watching the two girls cook. _Mom._ His eyes widened at the realization that his own girlfriend reminds him of his deceased mother, but he didn't take as a bad thing. In fact, it was a compliment for her, even though she doesn't know. Her vibe was so vibrant and happy; she adapted perfectly well with his family… like she already belonged from the start. It was truly a sort of "Welcome Back Home" type of thing. Ichigo took a deep breath and quickly let it out. He then stood up and walked over to the living room once more.

"Ichi-nii! Karin! Dad! Food's ready!" Yuzu yelled as she put the final plate on the dining table. The three of them walked into dining room and the aroma of food filled their nostrils. There were compliments said saying that the food smelled great and what wonderful cooks the family is privileged to have this night. They all sat down, Isshin at the head of the table and to his left were Ichigo and Orihime who were sitting next to each other and to his right were his two daughters who were sitting side by side as well.

Isshin cleared his throat and began to talk, "We would like to welcome Orihime to our home and I would like to say that I love having you here with us." He gave a small smile and Orihime smiled back, touched by his words. There was a small moment of silence and Isshin continued, "Well, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We're going to buy the tree, the three of us-,"

"Three of us? What you mean by three?" Ichigo interrupted.

"Don't you remember my strawberry son?" Isshin asked and Ichigo only frowned at the nickname his father has called him. "You said you didn't wanna go tree shopping with your wonderful daddy who give you a roof over your head and the clothes that you wear and-,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. So then, uh, Orihime and I are going to stay at the house…?" _Alone?_ Ichigo finished in his mind.

"Yessiree! Hope you don't mind?" Isshin then winked and Ichigo then said something unintelligible, but no one questioned it.

After they finished eating dinner, Karin and Yuzu got ready for bed since they had to wake up early the next day to go tree hunting. Now, Isshin, Ichigo and Orihime were left alone in the room. Orihime was washing the dishes and Ichigo had just finished clearing the table. Isshin was watching them both and once they were finished, he spoke. "I know you guys will make a right choice in the sleeping arrangements." He then winked and Orihime's face flushed as Ichigo got red. "Well, 'night!" Isshin then walked out and left the couple in the room to contemplate on their own as to where Orihime was going to sleep.

"Uh…" Ichigo then fake coughed and Orihime looked at him. "I'll just sleep on the couch," Ichigo quickly continued seeing that she was about to protest, "since it turns into a bed anyways. You can sleep in my room." Orihime didn't know as to what to say and so she looked at the ground.

"I-I don't w-want you sleeping on the c-couch bed, Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime softly murmured.

"I'm not having you sleep on the couch bed, Inoue. It smells like butt anyways…" Ichigo slowly added. Orihime then giggled at the remark and sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come… I mean like, I'm invading your home! And-,"

"You're not invading my home. _I _invited you, so you're not invading. I wanted to have you here, Orihime Inoue." Ichigo answered back huskily and slowly began to walk towards her. Orihime knew as to what he was going to do. She anticipated for it, but then she didn't want it to happen cause then it'll make her want _more_. He held her by the waist and slowly leaned in…

"Ichigo!" Karin yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Shit…" Ichigo mumbled, the both of them jumping at the sound of Karin's voice. "What?" he hissed at the bottom of the staircase.

"Uh… never mind. _Just_ checking." Karin said, smirking and walked away.

Ichigo stayed at the bottom of the staircase for a bit, glaring at his sister's back as she walked away. He then walked back towards Orihime who was looking out the window in the living room. "Orihime…"

"We'll go with what you said first then. Uh, goodnight Ichigo." Orihime quickly walked up the stair and went into Ichigo's room. She felt like she was going to burst any minute from worked up hormones. _Don't think about it. Don't think about it…_ Somehow, in the back of her mind, she began to think of when he first kissed her, the way his hands held her…

"Uh, Orihime?" Ichigo's voice called from outside the door. Orihime jumped.

"Y-yes, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime involuntarily said.

"I, uh, have to get my pajamas from my room… So, if you undressed if you could, uh…" Ichigo trailed off and Orihime opened the door. He was pinching his nose and it looked like he got a nosebleed.

"Ichigo! What happened?" Orihime softly yell-whispered to him as to not wake anyone up. Ichigo then quickly went to the bathroom and came back with his nose clear. He then cleared his throat and pointed into his room, not wanting to say anything. Orihime stepped aside, letting him pass through. He searched his room for his pajamas, seeming quite lost.

"Where in the hell…?" Ichigo asked himself. He then looked behind his pillow and took out a bundle of clothes. He then left the room and walked away. Orihime was about to close the door once more, but a hand caught the door. She let it open once more and Ichigo quickly went to her, kissing her passionately. She softly leaned against the wall having Ichigo still kissing her. As quickly as he began, he stopped. Ichigo leaned his forehead against hers and his right hand supported her head.

"Goodnight… Orihime," he softly whispered and left, softly closing the door behind him.

Orihime's knees buckled underneath her and she slowly slid down to the floor. Her heart was beating fast and her breathing wasn't regular. _Holy bean paste!_ After a couple of minutes, her heart slowed down and her breathing returned to normal. She slowly stood up and got ready to go to bed. Once she had lain down, she realized that this was her second time being in his room… the first time being right before she went to Hueco Mundo. She raised the blanket up to her nose and softly shuddered beneath the blanket at the thought of Hueco Mundo itself. Though, Orihime involuntarily smelled the blanket and she calmed down at its smell. _Smells just like him…_ She smiled, but then tried to shoo the thought away. _I guess I'm thinking like some psycho girlfriend now… or maybe even a stalker!_ Her grey eyes dilated twice their size at the thought, but she then tried to forget her past thoughts altogether. Orihime began to wander her mind; memories being remembered, laughs that were shared, tears that were shed… After a while, her eyes slowly shut close and the princess went to her deep slumber.

Sunlight seeped into the room, lighting it ever so slightly. Orihime's eyes fluttered open and she slowly sat up. She softly yawned, rubbed her eyes and looked at the wall straight ahead of her. _What the…? _Her eyes widened ever so softly as to where she was and she quickly stood up from the bed. She looked at the clock on the bedside table and it read 11:13 A.M. _Oh man! I slept for so long!_ She quickly made the bed, but it still looked quite neat even though Orihime didn't spend her time on it too much. She then went to her bag and took out her bathroom necessities, but then hesitated. _Am I able to take a shower?_ She felt quite dirty, even though she had showered the morning before. Orihime walked out and stepped downstairs, heading towards the living room. Ichigo was laying on the couch, listening to his iPod. He didn't realize that Orihime was there until he stood up to stretch.

"Orihime!"

"Uh, morning, Ichigo." Orihime smiled and nervously laughed. "I was, uh, wondering if I could… take a… shower…" She softly blushed and looked to the ground.

"Uh, yeah. It's free for you to use in the future too…" Ichigo's face slightly flushed, but returned to its normal color a minute later.

"Thank you, Ichigo." She quickly smiled and walked back upstairs.

He stayed standing there a minute or two as he heard Orihime's soft steps walking upstairs… turning on the water… Soon enough, thoughts came in… _Shit! No! Don't think about it! Don't! You respect her! You respect her! You respect her! Shit…_ He sat back down on the couch and tried to have his music drain out the dirty thoughts from his mind. He closed his eyes, trying to just listen to the lyrics, the beat and rhythm… Soon, his mind wandered into its own imagination that led to him to dream…

Orihime stood in Ichigo's room, wishing that he had a full body mirror. She was wearing dark blue jeans with a grey v-neck shirt that had a pink flower blooming at the bottom. She quickly blow-dried her hair and put on her hairpins. Quickly looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, Orihime ran downstairs, but then slowed down when she saw that Ichigo was sleeping. _Maybe he didn't get enough sleep last night._ She was hoping that he would be awake when she came down; it is Christmas Eve after all. Orihime felt a pang of guilt for even thinking that maybe he doesn't care about spending time with her. She immediately walked away from the living room and quietly walked upstairs to her current sleeping place. For once since she had been in here, she actually _saw_ the room. Before, her mind was too busy thinking about what had just happened and her first time being there was in the dark. Her eyes scanned the room, and she realized it was very simple. There were no posters or anything, just mostly a bed and a bedside table with a clock on top of it. Though, somehow, it fitted Ichigo. He wasn't the type to have funky colors or to over exaggerate, room wise. Orihime slowly sat down on the bed and just stared into space. Suddenly, the closet door was opening… _What in the…?_ Out jumped a small stuffed animal. Kon.

"Kon!"

"…"

**Squish. **_I could stay like this forever! Her beautiful-_

"Orihime? What in the-!"

"Look, Ichigo! It's Kon! I gave a hug since I haven't seen him in so long." Orihime smiled and Kon only drooled on her lap.

"Uh, no offense Orihime, but maybe you shouldn't have hugged him at all…"

"What? Why?" Orihime pouted.

"Yeah! Why, Ichigo?" Kon butt in, jumping down from Orihime's lap.

"Cause you're a damn fucking perv, that's why." Ichigo then walked out and Orihime had followed him out, worried that he had gotten upset.

"Kurosaki-kun… I'm sorry…" she softly whispered when he stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"For what, Inoue?" Ichigo had tilted his head her way, but he wasn't necessarily looking at her.

"I didn't know that hugging Kon would have upset you…. So, I'm sorry…"

When she had said this, Ichigo turned around and walked up a step as to be face-to-face with her. "You thought I would be upset over that? Don't worry about it. I'm not upset," he then gave a small smile and headed towards the front door.

"Ah, where're you going Ichigo?" Orihime asked; feeling disappointed once more that now she was going to be alone at his house.

"Uh, I'm heading towards the village. I, uh, have to… uh… buy food for Yuzu. Yeah, buy food for her." Orihime opened her mouth to suggest that she can go with him if he wanted her to, but he had continued, "I'll be back quick. Don't worry." Orihime shut her mouth and nodded. And out the door the orange-haired teen went.

Ichigo stuffed his hands into his pocket and began to feel a little guilty for lying to his girlfriend and to also leave her there all alone. _Man, this morning probably sucks for her… I'm not doing such a great job… Shit._ He then began to quickly walk towards the village, the one thing he didn't lie about, as to get to the jewelry store quicker and to get back to the house quicker as well.

He breathed out heavily, seeing a white puff come out, and hesitated to enter the store.

"Here I go…" Ichigo mumbled to himself. He entered into the store, a blast of warm air hitting him. An old lady was organizing some of the jewelry and Ichigo had walked over to the glass counter, looking through as to see what he thought Orihime might like.

"Helloooo~!" Ichigo had looked up and responded with a soft hello as well. "Looking for something for your girlfriend?" The old lady asked, smiling. He smirked and nodded. "Well, you came to the right place young man! Actually, the only place… Anyways, you have anything in mind?"

"Uh, no. Not really. I was kind of hoping I'd see something and it'd just pop out to me…"

"Oh, don't worry. It's fine. Oh, I'll be right back. I just remembered that we had gotten new jewelry come in this morning." The lady hurried to the back and Ichigo had kept on looking through the glass windows. There were a lot of rings, and sure they were pretty and all, but he wasn't proposing to her or anything… plus, he didn't know her ring size. There were necklaces, but once he saw the price, he immediately went on to the next. There were earrings as well, but they just didn't seem to fit Orihime. Ichigo heavily sighed, thinking he was doomed to buy a card and flowers. And his girlfriend deserved much more than that… "Here we go!" The woman was carrying a box and she laid it down onto the floor and took out multiple of smaller black boxes. She laid them out and opened them. For the most part they were necklaces. As he scanned them, he saw one shining red. Interested, he walked over to see what it was. It was in fact a strawberry necklace. He chuckled at it, but he soon realized that maybe this was _the_ necklace to get her. _But does she really want a strawberry necklace? It'd seem kind of selfish getting her something that reminds her of me… or would it be?_ Ichigo was only staring at the necklace and the old lady had walked over as to they were face-to-face. "You're going to buy that one? It's very pretty." She smiled a toothless smile and Ichigo had nodded. _Might as well…_ "Okie dokie! That'll be…" She took out a calculator and said the price. Ichigo's eyes widened and thought that it was worth it.

Orihime was flipping through channels on the television and had finally settled for a Christmas love story. She didn't know the name of it, but it seemed interesting enough. In the middle of her watching, the door opened, but Orihime didn't hear.

"Oh, kiss her! You know you want to! She loves you too!" She began to yell at the television set and Ichigo only chuckled at the sight. She heard this and quickly turned around. "Ichigo! You scared me…" Her cheeks began to get pink and Orihime's eyes averted back to the television, which was now on commercial.

"I told you I was going to be back quickly." Ichigo then walked towards the dining table and was about to drop the black box onto the table when he saw Orihime come towards him. _I better do this alone or something…_ "Uh, I'm going to be in my room… doing stuff… So, try to not come in, okay? You can go back and keep watching your movie." He slightly smiled and Orihime nodded and walked back to the couch.

_What in the world is he going to do alone in his room?_ Orihime thought, oblivious to the fact that the movie was back on. She sighed and decided to not think about it or else she'd get gloomy. And that is not Orihime like!

Ichigo went to the basement to get wrapping paper and a bow and he slowly and quietly walked up to his room as to not get Orihime suspicious. He closed his bedroom door and quickly went to work.

"Honey, we're home!" Isshin sung out into the house. Orihime giggled and said good afternoon to the weird father.

"Shut up, you old goat." Karin said, entering the house with shopping bags in her hands and heading straight up to her room.

"Dad, what time is it?" Yuzu had asked, coming in as well with bags.

"It is… four o'clock on the dot!"

"What! I have to begin to make dinner!" Yuzu sprinted to her room and back to the kitchen.

"Do you need help, Yuzu?" Orihime asked.

"Oh, uh. Yeah, that would be great, Hime-chan." Yuzu smiled and told her on what to do.

"ICHIGO!"

"WHAT?" Ichigo stuck his head out of his bedroom door and saw his father at the front door. He only frowned.

"C'mon son. We have to get the tree in and decorate it!" Isshin walked out and Ichigo cursed under his breath. He quickly put on shoes and a coat and helped his old man bring a 6' tree into the house and over to the special corner of the living room. They settled it down and Ichigo went back to the basement to grab the ornaments. Karin came back down to help to decorate the tree and helped Ichigo bringing up the ornaments by bringing the other box up. As the three of them worked on the tree, Orihime and Yuzu worked on cooking a splendid dinner. Orihime smiled and was thankful that this Christmas, she wasn't alone.

There was jolly Christmas music playing in the background, and the Kurosaki family and Orihime were animatedly talking, and laughing. It was truly a family moment, and Orihime was one of them. The table was filled with food: ham, turkey, potato salad.

"Man that was _wonderful._ What's for dessert?" Isshin asked, patting his stomach. Orihime had stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

"Strawberry shortcake!" The whole table, except for Ichigo who was getting red, had laughed. Orihime was only confused, not knowing why they were laughing. She shrugged it off, placing the dessert on the table.

"Wow, Orihime. That looks really good," Karin commented. Orihime beamed. Everyone at the table took a piece and 'mmmmmmmmmmm'ed as to how delicious it tasted. At the end of dinner, once again, Karin and Yuzu had to go to bed. They wanted to wake up as early as possible for Christmas. Orihime washed the dishes and Ichigo cleaned the table.

"You know Orihime. You really remind me of my wife, Masaki. I'm sure she would have loved to meet you," Isshin commented. Orihime turned around from the sink and sadly smiled.

"I would have loved to meet her as well." Isshin placed a hand on her shoulder, but didn't say anything. He then walked away, heading to his room. Orihime went back to washing the dishes; her mind was repeating the compliment that the head Kurosaki had just given her.

Ichigo cleared his throat behind Orihime and she was brought out of her thoughts. She turned off the water, being done, and dried her hands on a dish towel. "Well, goodnight Orihime."

"Goodnight Ichigo." Orihime gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and walked away up to her sleeping chamber. She softly closed the door behind her and got ready to go to sleep. But it wouldn't come. No matter how long she had her eyes closed, she couldn't go to sleep. She was dying to give her present to Ichigo; the present burning in her bag. She glanced at the clock and it was 10 minutes to midnight. _I really need sleep! The blue men must be pulling my eyelids to stay open…_ She sighed and was about to rollover when there was a knock on her door. Puzzled, she whispered for whoever it was to come in. The door creaked open and Ichigo walked in. He had his hands behind his back.

"Uh, sorry to wake you up…" Ichigo whispered. 11:52.

"I wasn't able to go sleep anyways," Orihime replied. "Is everything okay?" Ichigo nodded and sat on the bed facing her. 11:54.

"I wasn't able to sleep either, and I wanted to check up on you." 11:55.

"Oh…" There was a slight pause. 11:56.

"Are you okay, Orihime?" 11:57.

"Yeah. I really am. Thank you Ichigo." Orihime smiled in the darkness. 11:57.

"For what?" 11:57.

"Letting me stay with you and your family." 11:58.

"I wouldn't have you spend the holidays alone, Orihime. What a jerk I'd be if I did." 11:59. Ichigo's eyes averted to the clock and back to Orihime. Orihime giggled and softly sighed. 12:00.

"Uh, I know it's like really early, but I couldn't wait…"

"For what?"

Ichigo's hands came out in front of him and he held a present in his hands. Orihime's eyes widened and she smiled. She looked at the present and up at Ichigo and back to present again. "For… me?"

"Duh, you silly girl." Ichigo smiled and Orihime took the present.

The smooth wrapping paper gave her chills. The small red bow made her heart beat faster. Orihime slowly opened it, as to not make so much noise, and there was a small black box. Her eyes averted back up to Ichigo and he smiled again, kind of telling her to open it. She slowly opened it and the moonlight hit the necklace, letting the red and green sparkle. She gasped, overjoyed at the present.

"Thank you Ichigo! I love it!" She gave him a hug and he hugged her back. "I want to give you your present too." She stood up and went into her bag. She pulled out a small box with wrapping paper and an orange bow. "It's not as great as your present though…" She handed it to him and he slowly opened it as well. There was a white cardboard box and he opened it to see… a knitted hat.

"Hehe, I love it Orihime." Ichigo was kind of disappointed, but didn't let it show. She smiled, but then she mumbled about having something else. She pulled out a card and handed it to him. She turned on the lamp from the bedside table and Ichigo silently read it to himself.

_Dear Ichigo,_

_Words can't explain how happy I was when you had invited me to stay with you and your family for the holidays. I knew from the start that this was going to be the best Christmas I have had yet for years. You make me so happy and sometimes I can't believe that this is really happening: me and you. I have loved you for who knows how long and I will continue to. I know that you love me too, but sometimes I can't believe it. Thank you for all that you've done for me. Merry Christmas my strawberry-kun. :)_

_~Orihime_

The card was what had made Ichigo happy and it had truly touched his heart. "Thank you Orihime. I really do love it, and you." He had said sincerely. Orihime had only blushed and mumbled that it was nothing. Ichigo then scooted up to her, giving her a light kiss on the lips and whispered a goodnight and Merry Christmas. She did the same and Ichigo left the room slowly closing the door behind him.

It was indeed the best Christmas for this couple in the past few years. And it'll be one that they'd never forget.

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I am so sorry if you didn't like Hime-chan's present to Ichigo, I was kind of stuck and the ending kind of sucked too... I know this chapter was really long and it took long for me to post up, but the next one shouldn't take as long! I hope… Please review! I'd really love to hear your comments and advise. :) Oh, and give me some ideas for the next chapter. ^^

**Next Chapter:** Yuzu and Karin had gotten a really bad cold so Orihime had to leave the Kurosaki residence sooner than expected. It's the day before New Year's and will this princess be spending it alone? A pleasant surprise shall come. Hehe. XD


	4. I Wish You Love

Thank you to all who reviewed! My bestie **LazerKon5, WestAnimeBrigade, Kazama the shell bullet, **and **BleachFanPR**. You guys have no idea on how much they made my day! Anywhoo, here's the third chapter! The day is December 31st…

**Warning: A bit of OOC here… please don't hate me!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach… sadly…**

**EDITED VERSION.**

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Orihime zipped close her bag and scanned the room to make sure she wasn't leaving anything. Softly sighing, she picked up her bag and exited the room. Loud, hard coughs were heard in Yuzu's and Karin's room and Orihime wished her powers healed sickness as well, not only wounds. Slowly walking down the staircase, Orihime saw Ichigo sitting down on the bottom staircase. Although she didn't recognize him for a second since he was wearing the hat she made him. Somehow his orange spiky hair fit in… Orihime smiled at seeing him wearing her present, but then it faded away when he stood up and spoke.

"Sorry Orihime for having you leave earlier. It's just that-,"

"You don't need to have an excuse, Ichigo. It's alright." Orihime smiled, but then she somberly looked up to the girls' room. "I just wish I could do something." More coughing was heard. Then the door quickly opened and Karin was running out towards the bathroom. Isshin stepped out as well, wearing his "doctor" outfit.

"Will you take that fucking costume off?!" Ichigo yelled up to his father.

"What! No! This isn't a costume. I _am_ a doctor." He proudly smiled, but it went away when Ichigo yelled at him saying he wore it last year for Halloween. "So mean to your daddy…" Isshin pouted and Ichigo wanted to punch his father right then and there, but Orihime was still there and he didn't want to upset her.

"Let's go Orihime. Or else you might get sick from stupidity like my father."

"Ichigo, don't say that!"

"What? It's true."

"Uh, Ichigo." Isshin called after his son. Ichigo hesitantly looked up. "Take some extra clothes with you too."

"W-what?!"

"…"

"Stay with Orihime for New Year's. Plus, I don't another Kurosaki getting sick."

"Then what about you?" Ichigo asked.

"I have a strong immune system! Plus, I'm a doctor." Isshin smiled once more and Ichigo shook his head.

"Er, do you mind Orihime?"

"I-I… uh… n-no."

Ichigo sensed her nervousness and said, "I don't have to stay at your house. I could crash with Chad or something…"

"N-no! Really, it's fine. You can stay at my house." Ichigo nodded and ran up his stairs to get clothes for himself.

"It's settled, then! Great! See you in a few days my strawberry boy!" Isshin yelled out as he entered back into Karin and Yuzu's room.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"…"

**At Orihime's House**

Orihime entered her home with Ichigo right behind her. She shivered from the cold and welcomed the warmth of her home. She told Ichigo that he could leave his bag on the floor in the living room. They both took of their coats and hung it up near the front door. Orihime went back to her room and she smiled at the familiarity of it. She quickly put away her things and walked back out to the living room where Ichigo was waiting for her.

"You want something to eat?" Orihime asked, walking towards the kitchen. Ichigo's stomach lurched at the thought of what his girlfriend had in mind as "food."

"Uh, no thanks Orihime."

Orihime nodded and headed towards the refrigerator. She looked inside and realized that she was out of red bean paste. _Shoot! I forgot to get some._ She sadly pouted at the loss of her favorite food-additive and settled for noodles.

She sat down at the table, waiting for her food to heat up in the microwave. "Uh, do you want to watch TV or something?" She asked when she saw a bored look on Ichigo's face.

"Huh? Oh, uh, nah. I'm good. Thanks though." Ichigo slowly responded. He stared at her for a bit and he saw her blush at his intense staring. He only smirked and then leaned back into his chair. The microwave beeped and Orihime stood up. Though, as she stood up, Ichigo saw something sparkly swing at her neck. When she set her food down, he looked at her neck and smiled to himself seeing that she was wearing the strawberry necklace. Though, it kind of looked like he was staring at something else…

"Uh, Ichigo? Everything okay…?" Orihime's face was beet red when she followed to where Ichigo's eyes were. _Maybe he wasn't looking there… It's the necklace! Yeah, there we go. The necklace._ Her face slowly went back to its normal color, but she then slightly blushed again at the intense stare that Ichigo's eyes were giving her. "Ichigo…?"

He finally looked up to her and his eyes softened. "Uh, sorry. I kinda zoned out…"

"Ah, I thought that was my job Ichigo!" She softly laughed and he only smirked. "What were you thinking about?" There was a small moment of silence and Orihime spoke again. "Uh, I mean you don't have to tell me! If it's too personal then really you don't-,"

"I'm glad you're wearing the necklace." This made Orihime to stop talking and she smiled from ear-to-ear.

"Of course Ichigo! I'm really happy you wore my hat today, too. I didn't think you liked it…" Her voice began to slowly soften and her final sentence became a whisper.

Ichigo smiled to her and he stood up and walked towards her.

"Ah, Ichigo, what you-!"

She was cut off by her love's lips and she slowly closed her eyes. He broke the kiss and muttered an apology. He was about to walk back to his seat when she grabbed his hand. Orihime stood up and Ichigo only stared at her. She walked small steps up to him as to be face-to-face and she stared into his burning hazel eyes.

"Kiss me again… Ichigo…" She softly whispered.

Ichigo smirked and leaned in again to kiss her. The touch was electrifying for the both of them. He pulled her in by the waist and her arms encircled his neck. Her mouth slightly parted, giving way for his tongue to explore. After standing there making out for a couple of minutes, they walked into Orihime's room and she was on the bed with him on top of her. Slowly getting heated into the moment, Ichigo's hands slid into her shirt, sending tingles all over Orihime's body. He felt her shudder, giving him even the more pleasure. His lips left hers and slowly went down to her jaw, then to her neck. Orihime softly moaned and she lifted his face back up as to have his lips hers again.

They were so caught up in their moment, that they didn't hear someone opening the front door… walking in the hallway… and…

"Hime! I'm home early from-! WHAT IN THE FUCK IS HE DOING ON TOP OF YOU?! YOU SON OF A BITCH! GET OFF OF HER! YOU PERV!"

Ichigo quickly got off of his girlfriend and Orihime attempted to straighten her shirt as much as possible.

"Tastuki-chan! I-I… It wasn't what it… Oh crap…"

Tastuki marched over to him, ready to chop his balls off. "Why I oughtta-!"

"You oughtta nothing!" Ichigo half-pleaded back, hoping to not get his balls chopped off.

Tastuki raised her hand into a fist and just when she was about to…

"YHOOO WHOOOOO~! HIME-CHAN! WHERE'S THE PARTY?"

All heads looked towards the door and all jaws dropped. It was in fact the captain of the 10th squad, Toushiro Hitsugaya, holding a Sake bottle and jugging it down. Not only that, but he was wearing a New Year's hat that had flashing lights.

"Toushiro?!"

"Toushiro-san?"

"Who's the shorty?"

"Hime!" Rangiku Matsumoto then ran into the room and crushingly hugged Orihime.

"Can't…breathe… Rangiku…"

"Oh, sorry~!" She then let go of her and sat down next to her on the bed. "I've missed you so much!"

"Ah, Rangiku-san, why're you here? Not that I mind! I've missed you and Toushiro-san too and all, but… aren't you guys supposed to be in Soul Society?"

"Oh, the head captain gave us a break for a week! So I decided along with the captain here that we were coming to see you!"

"Uh, Rangiku, just wondering… How is Toushiro drinking Sake? And wearing a New Year's hat? And asking for a party?" Ichigo butt in.

"Oh, I just told him to loosen up. It's the holidays after all~! I'm actually quite surprised just as you since that's his third bottle." All eyes widened at this statement, but then shook the thought away.

"C'mon Toushiro. Let's try to get you sobered up." Ichigo remarked, heading towards him. "Plus, I don't want to get in trouble for a minor drinking."

"Who said I was a minor?!" Toushiro butt in.

"Well, uh, how old are you then?"

"Actually, I am-,"

"Orihime!" Rukia yelled out happily from the bedroom door.

"Rukia!" Orihime stood up and went to Rukia for a hug. This time, the raven-haired girl gave one back gladly. "I'm so happy you're here! But, uh, why is everyone coming at my house?"

"I don't know to be honest. I wanted to say hi and I also wanted to, uh, share some news with you too." Rukia nervously smiled and Orihime had only a confused look on her face. That was when Renji came walking in and wrapped his hand around Rukia's.

"Why'd you go ahead of me? I kinda lost you back there." Renji smirked and Rukia only blushed.

Orihime's eyes widened and that was when she jumped up and down and gave Rukia a bear hug. "I'm so happy for you! You two look so cute together! But, I'm just wondering, how'd your brother take it?"

"Wait, you just told her?" Renji asked.

"W-well, I just wanted to make sure t-that this was for real and… I didn't want to tell everyone right away just in case something happened…" Rukia studied.

"I told you, I don't want to be with anyone else other than you, Rukia." Renji looked deep into her eyes and Rukia smiled back at him.

"You better wanna be with only me!" Rukia then yelled out, ruining the moment. She kicked him in the stomach and muttered, "Baka."

"Hehe, I think I'm just going to see what Ichigo is doing…" Orihime slowly walked away and looked around for her boyfriend. Rangiku had already put on music and Orihime had realized that even more people have come. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Yourichi, even Mr. Urahara himself. "Wow, I don't know if my apartment can hold any more people…" She mumbled to herself. At that said the front door opened and Kira, Hanataro, Hinamori, Iba, and Hisagi walked in. _Are there going to be more?!_ Hisagi was about to close the door when someone from outside yelled to leave it open. _This cannot be happening!_ Now Kenpachi and Yachiru came in, Yachiru on his left shoulder. "Yachiru-chan! Kenpachi-san!"

"Hey, look Kenny! It's big breasted girl! And over there is berry boy!" She smiled and Orihime nervously laughed.

"Really? Where? I'm gonna have this fight with him for once and for all!" Kenpachi evilly grinned and Orihime had slowly walked away, heading to where Ichigo was. He was turned from her and it seemed as if he was looking for her too. She lightly tapped him in the shoulder and he smiled.

"I was looking for you, but didn't find you…" Orihime smiled at him and reached for his hand.

"We won't lose each other as long as we stay close, right?" She smirked and Ichigo smirked back. He was leaning in for another kiss when he was suddenly pulled back.

"Whoops, wrong person." Tatsuki slyly commented. Ichigo only frowned at her. "Hey, Hime there's others coming in."

"What?! I don't know if my apartment can handle more people…"

"Well, I think they're the last two anyways…"

"Who is it?" Ichigo butt in.

"Chad and, uh, Uryuu." Tatsuki slightly blushed at his name and made an excuse then as to leave the couple.

"Four-eyes is here?"

"I heard that _carrot-top,_" Uryuu commented behind Ichigo.

"Carrot-top! Why I-,"

"I'm so happy you came!" Orihime butt in before Ichigo said something even more insulting that would then lead into a fight.

"Of course I came. Plus I heard that Ta-, er, I mean there's no other way to spend New Year's than with your friends' right!" Orihime took no notice in Uryuu's replacement of words and only nodded. He then made and excuse that he had to greet others and left.

"What a weirdo, I swear." Ichigo commented once he knew that Uryuu was out of ear-shot. Orihime didn't say anything. "Uh, you wanna go for a walk?" She looked up at him and nodded. The couple quickly left her house as to not get any attention, not that anyone was paying attention to them.

"I, uh, just wanted to apologize for earlier…" Ichigo slowly said.

"Oh, you don't have to-,"

"Orihime, I want you to know that I'm not just with you because of your body. I really do love you and I would do anything for you. You're smart _and_ beautiful, kind and humble… There's nothing more that I could ask for."

"Ichigo…"

He slowly walked towards her and lifter her chin up as to have them eye-to-eye. "I love you, Orihime."

"I love you too Ichigo."

They kissed, but before it could get too heated up like before, someone had called out from Orihime's house yelling for the couple to get in.

"STOP KISSING EACHOTHER! YOU CAN DO THAT AND MORE IN ABOUT A MINUTE! IT'S ALMOST MIDNIGHT!"

Ichigo frowned that the whole town had to hear that and Orihime only blushed. They quickly walked back into the warm house and the television was on. Times Square was shown on the screen and the New Year's Ball was slowly dropping.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!"

This time, it wasn't only Ichigo and Orihime that were kissing their first kiss of the New Year. In fact, a certain tomboy and a sewing-fanatic and a short raven-hair girl and red-haired guy had lip locked as well.

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I had to get these other 2 couples in here. XD Thank you to LazerKon5 for giving me the idea about Hitsugaya! I just love him so much. I'm thinking about writing drabbles in between my updates. I have these other scenes about this cute couple and they just won't leave my mind. So look out for that!

**Next Chapter: Orihime's bad dreams have come back. And now she is drowned back into her past…**


	5. Enjoy the Silence

Ah, the fifth chapter! I'm running out of ideas here! Might have to end this story soon. T-T I shall let all of you know when it's the last chapter, which hopefully won't be soon! Anyways, I know the last chapter was pretty short… well for me. Ha-ha. Anyways, thanks for the reviews people! And for my other story! I truly appreciate them. Anyways, lemme stop babbling here and let you read. :D

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach, rights/rites (which is it?) go to Tite Kubo.**

_

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_

Darkness engulfed me… I couldn't see anything… Colors slowly came… A dirty white and a blood stained black… The picture became a little clearer, and it made me cry in agony. But, how could I cry, when I was over there? Standing above my love's dead body? I saw myself look up, and it ended my scream; horror filled my heart. My eyes were hollow, dead. And I held the sword that killed-

"ICHIGO!"

Orihime immediately sat up from her bed and she heard footsteps running towards her bedroom door. She was panting and tears filled her eyes. Her hands were in fists, clutching her bedcover.

"Orihime?! What's wrong? What happened?"

"I… You… The blood…" Orihime couldn't get out full sentences and her head hung low and she began to sob.

"Orihime…" Ichigo sat down next to her on her bed and hugged her. She quickly enclosed her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Orihime, was it a bad dream again? This is the fifth time in a week."

"Week and a half," Orihime corrected. She then pulled back from him, wiping her tears away. She then gave a small, wavering smile, but Ichigo still wasn't convinced.

"When are you going to tell me what they are? I really want to help you, Orihime. You're not getting enough sleep because you're scared of getting these nightmares, but when you do, you wake up screaming my name."

"Ah, they're nothing Ichigo." Orihime looked away, feeling bad for making him worry.

"No, they are _something._ Orihime, c'mon. You're not going to put a burden on me by telling me your dreams. You, or anything you do, will never be a burden to me. So don't use that as an excuse to stop yourself from telling me. Tell me, please." Ichigo's hands were on her shoulders, but she wasn't looking at him. Instead, Orihime was staring at the wall to her left and Ichigo could clearly see her tiredness. Her eyes were half-lidded, bags were starting to form from the little sleep that she had. _And I can't do anything about it…_ Ichigo began to curse himself in his head for feeling so useless. He literally can't do anything to help her. It's not like as if he can go into her mind and somehow get her bad memories out or fears or something. Sadly and depressingly, he couldn't do anything.

"Uh, I think I'm just gonna take a shower Ichigo." Ichigo's arms limply fell by his side and Orihime slowly stood up, heading towards the bathroom. "Oh, and, uh, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Ichigo asked irritated, but not on purpose.

"I feel asleep on our study night. I'm sorry…"

"Eh, don't worry about it. I'd rather watch you sleep than study." Ichigo stood up and kissed her on her forehead. Orihime gave him a small, true smile and went to take a shower.

Orihime closed her bathroom door behind her and turned on the hot water. Slipping out of her clothes, she stepped into the already foggy shower. The water hit her back, calming her from the dream that she just had. _So much blood was coming out of him… and __**I**__ was the one who killed him._ Orihime sighed and let the water keep beating on her back.

_Dammit, what could she be dreaming?!_ Ichigo was ransacking his brain to try and figure out Orihime's nightmares. _Well, she yelled out my name… so I had to be in it. She said 'blood' so blood and me… and she was crying… So most likely I was probably hurt in some way…_ Ichigo began to get a headache and decided to think about it later on. He heard Orihime turn on the water and he decided that he'll stay until she comes out. _Or maybe I could stay over again… __**Yeah, Kingy! You make her forget about her dreams! Hehe.**__Shut the fuck up!_ Ichigo scowled and had decided that he will stay over, but to protect her. Nothing else. He walked over to the bathroom and knocked.

"Uh, Orihime, just lettin' ya know Imma be back. I just have to get some stuff from my house." Ichigo heard the water being shut off and some rustling inside. The door partly opened and he saw Orihime's wet head.

"Eh, sorry, I didn't hear you Ichigo. What're you going to do?" _Please don't leave… Please don't leave…_

"Oh, I'm just, uh, gonna go to my house to get some things. I'll be staying over here for the night… if that's okay."

"If it's because of my nightmares, you really don't-,"

"I don't care what you say! I'm staying!" At that, Ichigo headed towards the front door, not hearing Orihime's remarks. He grabbed his sweater and walked outside.

The moon was up and the dark sky was lit up by small stars. The wind was softly whistling in Ichigo's ear and he was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that he had already reached home.

"IIICCHHHIIIIGOOOOOOO~!" Isshin jumped from the stairs, going feet-to-face. Ichigo swiftly dodged and Isshin fell flat on the floor. "Don't think that was it!" He then went for a sidekick when Ichigo turned his back to go up the stairs and Ichigo ducked. He then immediately went for a sidekick straight for his father, which hit its target. Holding his now bleeding nose, Isshin grumbled out, "I have nothing left to teach you, my son!"

Ichigo didn't say anything and just went straight up to his room as to gather his clothes for the night.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm staying over at Orihime's for the night," Ichigo responded nonchalantly. He was already done gathering his things and shrugged the bag over his shoulder. "See ya tomorrow old man."

"Do you have a condom?! Remember, son! If you love your lover, wear rubber!"

Ichigo only scowled at that remark and walked right out. He had heard the voices of his younger sisters, but didn't turn around to explain. He'll let his dad do that… oh crap, he shouldn't have. Ichigo's scowl deepened as to think what explanation his father might tell his younger sisters. He began to quicken his pace and when he reached Orihime's house, he found her sitting on her front steps, her hands covering her face and her elbows propped onto her knees.

"What're you doing out here Orihime? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just needed fresh air." She breathed out. Slowly standing up, Orihime headed back inside her house.

_Something's not right here…_

She headed straight to the sink as to do the dishes. Slowly turning on the water, she grabbed the sponge and squirted soap onto it. Though, her eyes kept on drooping, and Orihime blinked hard a few times as to keep herself awake. _Maybe if I turn the water really cold, it'll wake me up…_ Turning off all the hot water, Orihime hesitantly placed her hands into the water. At first it wasn't very bad so Orihime kept her hands there, but then they began to feel numb and she decided to just stop doing the dishes altogether. It began to get tiresome to her. She could feel Ichigo's eyes staring at her, and for some reason, she was annoyed by it. _Why do I feel so crabby…?_ She frowned and then yawned.

"Maybe you should sleep some more Orihime. You can clean your house tomorrow in the morning or something. You looked really tired." Ichigo commented. He walked up to her and held her hand.

"I… don't… want to…"

"Orihime…"

"I JUST DON'T, OKAY!" Orihime pulled her hand away from him and ran to her room. Ichigo's hand felt cold from the sudden emptiness.

_Did that… just happen?!_

_Why did I do that? He must be mad at me or sad… or…_ Orihime deeply sighed, constant tears rolling down her face. _Am I that afraid of my dreams?_ She lay down on her bed and curled up, hugging her knees. All she wanted at that moment was to be held by the person she just pulled herself away from. Closing her eyes shut and trying to get bad thoughts out of her head, Orihime unconsciously went to sleep.

_The light enveloped me… The warmth was all over my body… But then, the light began to fade away, and the warmth went along with it. My arms reached out for the light, for the warmth… Darkness began to lick at my leg, slowly sliding up… I tried to pry away from it, but it caught up to me. I couldn't see anything at all, I was drowning in blackness. My hands went out in front of me, trying to feel, trying to touch something… anything. Slowly walking, I suddenly tripped on something. I fell on my hands, but then slipped since something slimy and… red? Colors began to come to me and I saw that my left hand was in a puddle of blood. On the floor lay Ichigo; his dead eyes were open and… a hole in his chest where his heart should be._

"_I-I…ccchhh…iii…goo?" I stuttered .He didn't answer. The silence was painfully loud."ICHIGO!"_

Orihime woke up panting, her forehead wet with her sweat. She glanced over at the clock and saw that it was nearly 1:15 in the morning. She stepped out of the blanket that covered her, but then stopped. _I didn't cover myself with… Ichigo._ She smiled faintly thinking of her boyfriend. Tip-toeing out of her room, she stepped out of her bedroom door. Slowly and quietly heading towards the living room, she peeped over the couch and saw Ichigo lying there soundly. She stayed there watching his chest rise up as he breathed in, and saw it deflate as he breathed out. He suddenly turned onto his side and Orihime ducked behind the couch, but then she heard him stop moving. Hesitantly, she peeped over again and saw that Ichigo had only rolled over to his side and was still asleep. Orihime then tip-toed to the bathroom as to take a quick shower and she softly closed the bathroom door behind her.

Ichigo woke up all of a sudden from a loud click sound and looked around from he lay. He quickly stood up and ran to Orihime's room, seeing that the bed was empty. "Orihime…" He was about to grab his sweater and walk outside when he heard noise from the bathroom. _She must be taking a shower again… but to be sure…_ Ichigo knocked on the door and called out her name. She replied with a hesitant yes and he only responded with, "Just checking." Ichigo walked back to the couch and slumped back. _Thank goodness…_ He heard the water turn off and a bit of rustling and then a loud **BAM** OUT OF NOWHERE. He immediately stood up and ran to bathroom door and was about to open it, but then thought twice. "Orihime! You okay?"

"Ow… Uh, I mean, I'm fine! Just a big klutz…"

"Can I, uh, open the door?"

"Yea."

Ichigo slowly opened the door and found Orihime lying on the floor with only her pajama shirt and her underwear. "Uh, what happened?" Ichigo cleared his throat, as if it'd clear away his thoughts that were running through his head.

"Oh, I only slipped on water! I'm fine, really. Plus my hard head save me!" She then knocked on her head as to show its hardness. Ichigo then walked up to her and knelt down by her side. He grabbed her hands and turned them over and did the same to her arms. He held her face with his right hand and tilted it in every angle as to see if there were any scratches. He then let go of her and put his hands to his side. "See, I'm fine."

Ichigo only grumbled something unintelligible and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He was still grumbling to himself when Orihime stepped out of the bathroom with shorts on and her baggy pajama t-shirt.

"Uh, are you okay Ichigo? I'm sorry if I scared you."

"No, it's fine. I'm happy you're okay."

"Well, I should still apologize. I woke you up from your sleep. That's not fair. Just because I can't sleep doesn't mean I couldn't let you sleep. Like what kind of person, no, _girlfriend_, would I be? Like seriously. So I should still apologize. And I am going to apologize. So I'm-,"

"Orihime." Ichigo was face-to-face to her as he said her name and Orihime hadn't notice as she was babbling on. "Don't worry. You don't have to apologize, okay? Now go back and get some more sleep. Heaven knows you need it." He then kissed her on the lips and turned around towards the couch.

"Uh, Ichigo?" Orihime called out. He turned around and Orihime continued. "Can I… If you don't mind… Uh, could I sit with you on the couch?"

"You don't have to ask twice." Ichigo smiled and Orihime beamingly smiled back and quickly walked up to him.

He sat down first and she laid her head on his shoulder, her legs bent next to her. Her right hand was holding his left and Ichigo began to play with her fingers. Intertwining his fingers with hers… Orihime contently sighed and closed her eyes. Though, when she did, she saw herself, but not herself. She had dead eyes, but yet her smirk was evil, it said everything about her.

"_Nighty night, my princess." She spoke._

Orihime quickly opened her eyes and stood up. She began to feel a headache, but the pain began to grow rapidly. "Imma go to my room now…" She headed towards there, but her headache got so excruciating that she stopped walking altogether.

"Orihime…"

She then fell to the floor and Ichigo ran up to her, catching her in the fall. Her eyes were open, dead. Her mouth was slightly parted, but nothing came out.

"Orihime…?

ORIHIME!"

The silence could be so painfully loud.

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EEP! This was the serious chapter in my story. Sorry, I know everyone loves the adorableness of Ichigo and Orihime, but I felt like it had no true plot. =/ So I came up with this! Anyways, please review! Please! You'll get brownies and Kon! :D

**Next Chapter: What has happened to our beautiful princess? Who is her other self? Will Orihime wake up and be herself, or will she be her other self? We will have to wait and see!**


	6. Just Like You

Okay, I know this chapter took kinda long, but I got distracted… sadly. But here it is!

**Disclaimer: I wonder how many more times I have to type this… Don't own Bleach, it all belongs to Tite Kubo.**

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Almost a Year Ago

Orihime stared out the high window at the "moon" that lay high above. The door opened behind her and Ulquiorra called out to her.

"Lord Aizen wishes to see you."

Orihime didn't say anything and turned around slowly looking at him. Ulquiorra turned around and walked out of the room. She followed him with her head hanging low. They walked down a few corridors until they reached a large grey door. It opened by itself and the both of them entered within the room.

"Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra bowed in front of his master and then stood up straight. "I have brought the girl you had asked for."

"Thank you, Ulquiorra." Aizen stayed seated in his chair having his left leg propped up onto his right. Ulquiorra knew when he was being dismissed so he let himself out of the room and left Orihime alone with Aizen. "Orihime, why such a sad face?" He then stood up and walked up to her. He tilted her head up and stared into her large grey eyes. "Such a beautiful young girl with great abilities shouldn't be sulking around." Orihime still didn't respond. "I can't have a depressed girl under my control. I need you to do my bidding and you will do it _happily_."

"I am under Aizen-sama's service…" Orihime mumbled.

"Of course you are, child." Aizen moved a strand of hair away from Orihime's face and his hand slid down her arm. He then began mumbling something unintelligible and before Orihime could move away, she fell limply in his arms. "That should keep you asleep for a bit." Aizen reached for a small pill within his white kimono and pulled it out. The small circular orange pill glistened in the light. "But this will stay with you forever." He dropped the pill into her mouth and smirked.

**Present Day**

Ichigo stared at Orihime as she lay soundly on a bed in one of the many backrooms in Urahara's shop. At first the owner had opened the door happily and with a huge smile, but it soon faded away when he saw the wide, scared eyes of Ichigo and the limp Orihime in his arms. Kisuke had immediately called Tessai and the big man brought Orihime into the room in which Ichigo was in, staring at his love. Her face was pale, her lips were partly open and she was barely breathing.

"Hang in there, Orihime… please…" Ichigo reached out to hold her hand and Kisuke only lingered at the door for a moment before stepping into the room.

**Orihime's Inner World**

Dark clouds hovered above my head and I heard thunder rumbling in the distance. Slowly standing up, I felt the ground beneath me moving like waves. I got unsteady once more and fell. _What the-?_ I got up once more and was able to stay standing. Even though the ground was still moving, I somehow got used to it. Still stumbling, I began to slowly walk to who knows where. I felt small drops hit my cheek and soon it began to pour of rain. I didn't mind getting wet, but I just felt so alone…

"Oh, but you're not alone my princess."

I knew that voice all too well. I slowly turned around and my eyes widened. There she stood. There I stood.

"Are you seriously surprised to see me? My, you're very naïve."

"W-who are y-you?" I stuttered.

"Why I'm you. Well, your instinct you. But still you either way. Can't you see the resemblance?" Her mocking laughter filled my ears, but she soon stopped. "Sorry, _princess_, but a new ruler must rule and it isn't going to be YOU!"

I immediately called out Santen Kesshun and the barrier lay in front of me with my other self laying a sword against it.

"Impressive that you called out your Santen Kesshun so quickly. But not impressive enough!" She disappeared from sight and my heart pumped with fear. "I can smell your fear, your cowardliness. And that is what is going to get you killed!" She hissed in my ear and my eyes widened as I turned my head around.

**Regular World**

Ichigo's eyes widened as he watched Orihime thrashing on the floor. Kisuke had been in the room for a couple of minutes and didn't look very surprised.

"I didn't expect this so soon. Tessai!"

"Didn't expect what so soon? Wait, you mean to tell me that you've been expecting this?! And you didn't fucking tell me?" Ichigo was yelling at him and Tessai entered the room. He did kidou on Orihime as to bind her and he slung her over his shoulder.

"I was going to tell you, but then Orihime… well, you know. I'll explain it to you as we go down."

They entered the hidden underground chamber and it seemed that Tessai had used up the hole that Ichigo had used in the past when he was turning into a Shinigami.

"Why is…?"

"Orihime is turning into a hollow."

Ichigo's eyes dilated twice their size and he stared down into the hole where Orihime was still squirming and thrashing around. Her head lifted up and Ichigo saw her face. Her eyes were turning black with gold pupils; a mask was slowly forming on her left side of her face, but even Ichigo realized it was forming quickly. And that was when the hole formed in her chest and her scream filled his ears and into his heart.

**Orihime's Inner World**

"Arg!" My body flew across the field and I rolled onto my side. I could barely breathe and blood was falling down the side of my face and lip. I already had many cuts and bruises and maybe a broken rib, but that was probably it. _It could be worse…_ I propped myself up with my elbow, but was brought down to the ground with a sudden force. My hollow self lay her foot on my back and kept it there for a lingering moment.

"Tsk, tsk. Honestly, I should kill you now, and I can. But it's just so much fun to see you run around like a chicken that got their head cut off." She chuckled and put the blade up against my arm and put a small cut. I hissed in the slight pain and she finally got off of me. "You always say that you want to protect your friends, to be there for them. But that's just full of _shit_. You know that? You're full of _shit_. And you think that everyone loves you? They're doing it out of pity. They feel bad for you that you're so useless. You are just in their way, you-,"

"Shut up." My eyes were casted down and something within me burst.

"Well, looks like you got something in you."

I closed my eyes and I saw a woman. She had flaming orange hair, and there was a glow about her… I asked in my head who she was, but I could only hear muffled sounds. I saw her mouth moving, but I couldn't hear was she was saying.

"Pay attention to your enemy!" My hollow came at with her sword and I rolled away in time. I stood up and glared at her. "What are you gonna do? Come at me with Tsubaki? Like as if that small thing could affect me." She ran to me once more and I lay my barrier before me and it only held for a couple of seconds before it broke into pieces. "I see your Santen Kesshun is now not as strong. Is our princess getting tired? Hehe."

I lay on the ground kneeling, panting. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and stood up again. I averted my eyes as to where the hollow me was standing, but she wasn't there.

**Regular World**

Orihime's screams had filled the underground cavern. Shinji and the others had come by to help, but it seemed as if Orihime was already becoming a hollow. Her body was practically covered with the white and bright orange covering. The straight distinct lines, but the bright orange had flowed around her body, like brush streaks. Her mask had horns on the side and was white. On the left side of the mask had a flowy design with the bright orange and a black star on the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were a burning gold and black. _Come on Orihime… _Ichigo thought to himself.

**Orihime's Inner World**

_I can't…_

"Aw, poor princess Orihime. Do you give up you throne?" My hollow slowly walked towards me. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. My eyes were closed and I just wanted everything to end. "I'll happily take it from you. I'll take care of your duties. And a couple of my own duties. First, I'd…" Her voice drifted off and the woman came before my eyes once again. _Who are you? __**I am your sword. I am a part of you, Orihime. You need my help and I will help you. All you need to know is my name, Orihime. Listen carefully and you will the both of us will be able to defeat your hollow.**__ What's your name then?__** My name is-**_

"I said to stop daydreaming!" Her sword came down upon me, but I had sensed it, not seen it. Instinctively, my hand reached out in front of my face and my hand grabbed onto the blade of her sword. I opened my eyes and I saw that my hollow was surprised. Her eyes widened and then squinted. "I see this will be fun. Come to me, _Orihime._" I stood up, but didn't take any steps. She ran to me and then disappeared. _**To your left!**_My hand grabbed out my left and I quickly kicked her on the side. She grunted out and then disappeared again. She was a couple of feet away from me and was holding her side. "When I'm done with you, the first I'll do is kill your little boyfriend. Then you friends. Not that they really are." She smirked and ran to me once again, but head-on and I closed my eyes.

"Burn and protect, Tenjitsubaria!" A sword with a bright orange and black hilt appeared in my hand and I raised it high above my head. My hollow's eyes had widened and at that same moment, a burst of bright orange and black hit her like fire.

Silence.

The dust settled and I saw that my hollow was lying on the floor, and she was disappearing.

"You may have beaten me for now, but this isn't over." She hissed.

"It never will be." I replied back.

She smirked and was gone. The skies cleared and a soft wind came. The ground was still.

**Normal World**

"Ichigo, I'm-," Kisuke began, but then stopped. All eyes went to Orihime and she was just standing there. Still. Her body coverings had cracked and her mask fell out perfectly. All eyes gaped open when they found a sword in her hand as well. And its hilt was bright orange and black.

Orihime then fell to the floor and Ichigo ran to her. "Orihime!" He caught her as she fell and he laid her head down on his lap. Her auburn hair spilled over her face and he softly moved her hair away.

"Ichigo…?"

"Hey. Are you okay?"

She nodded in his lap and yawned. "I'm just… tired…" Ichigo felt her breathing go steady and smiled in relief.

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Okay! Here it is. :D Please review! And sorry for going back and forth so constantly...

**Next Chapter**: Orihime is going to train with Yoruichi and a couple others so that she can gain the strength of her sword and hollow! Now Ichigo and Orihime are a perfect match. xD


	7. The Pursuit

Sorry for the long wait! I was on writers' block and I got distracted by school. -_- Anyways, I feel like the story is coming to an end. *Tears* The next chapter _might_ be the last one. Might. I have to think about it. If you don't want it to end, gimme ideas and it won't end! :) If this story does end, I'll still write my drabbles if you're keeping up with those. Anyways, here's the seventh chapter! Enjoy! And please review! No writer likes silent readers…

Oh, the time setting is a week after Orihime turned into a hollow and has gotten her zanpakto

**Disclaimer: I don't own nor will ever own Bleach. *sniffles***

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"_Orihime, you need to learn to master me."_

"_I know…"_

"_Not only that, but you still have to learn how to master your old powers and your hollow."_

"_Eh?! So many powers to master…"_

"_Great power comes great responsibility."_

"_I've heard that before…"_

_Tenjitsubaria shook her head in shame as Orihime babbled on about some guy named Spiderman. _

"_Well, I think it is time we part." _

"_Aw! Why? I just got here!"_

"_We'll see each other often, Orihime. Do not worry. All will be well." Her pale hand lay on my cheek and she softly smiled._

"_Okay, Tenjitsubaria. I'll see you around." She nodded and faded away._

Orihime's eyes fluttered open and she saw that she was lying down on the couch. _Why am I…? Oh no!_ She bolted upright and looked at the kitchen table. No one was there. She stood up and walked to her room and saw that it was the same. Softly groaning to herself, Orihime laid her head against her bedroom doorframe. She then heard her front door unlocking and swing open. Curiously, she picked up her head and looked to her left towards the front door. Ichigo came walking in with two bags of food and Orihime beamed at the sight. Of food.

"Ah~! Ichigo! You shouldn't have!" Orihime jogged over to him and a bag from his hand.

"Well, I got hungry…" Ichigo replied, scratching the back of his head.

"But there's food here." She replied back.

"…"

"It doesn't matter! Thank you Ichigo!" Orihime gave him a quick peck on his cheek and went to the kitchen as to serve herself. Slightly blushing, Ichigo followed her to the kitchen. He watched her grab two big plates and a large spoon. She scooped out a large amount of noodles and plopped it onto one of the plates. "Is that enough?" Ichigo only nodded and she went to serve herself. One scoop. Two scoops. Three scoops?! And a half. _Damn_. Orihime sat down on the table and immediately horked down her food. Ichigo stared at her wide-eyed and she felt him staring at her. Noodles still hanging down from her mouth, Orihime's eyes glanced upward and she smiled. "Hehe, gwuess I'm hungwy," Orihime muffled through her noodles. Ichigo only chuckled and began to eat his own food.

After they were done, Orihime picked up the dishes and washed them as Ichigo cleaned up the table. Once they were done, they both headed towards the couch and she laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped her right hand with his left hand. She slowly closed her eyes and Ichigo saw her breathing go into a rhythm. Ichigo smiled contently down on her head and gave her a soft kiss. She didn't stir and kept on sleeping soundly. All of a sudden, Ichigo felt a familiar reiatsu in Orihime's bedroom. Slowly getting up and softly laying her head on the couch, Ichigo quickly walked over there.

He saw Yoruichi standing there, staring at her bed. "What are you doing here?" He half-whispered.

"To get Orihime. Why else?" She walked right past him, her long hair sweeping against the side of his hand. He tried to stop her, tried to say that she was sleeping, but once they had entered the living room, Ichigo saw that Orihime was sitting up on the couch and her head already tilted in their direction.

"I knew I sense you, Yoruichi-san." Orihime smiled at her and Yoruichi smiled back.

"Sorry to interrupt you Orihime, but I think after you gaining your new powers that you should get training as soon as possible."

"Wait, wait, wait. Orihime training?" Ichigo had tried to imagine the auburn girl training, but he knew how intense it was. Especially with Yoruichi. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing his girlfriend injured.

"Yes, Ichigo. She needs to gain strength from her powers, or else she'll just be consumed by them." Ichigo tsked, not exactly knowing a good comeback to that.

"It's okay Ichigo. I'll be fine. I'll be happy to train with you Yoruichi-san." Orihime stood up and Yoruichi nodded.

"Tomorrow early morning. Don't worry, I'll wake you up." At that, she had disappeared from their sight.

"This'll be fun!" Orihime beamed at Ichigo and a cold sweat formed at Ichigo's brow. _She really doesn't know what she's getting into…_

***

"Burn and protect, Tenjitsubaria!" A burst of bright orange and black headed towards Yoruichi, but before it hit her, she had disappeared. Orihime sensed her above her and she immediately laid her sword above her head. Although, Yoruichi had managed to get in a sidekick. Orihime slightly fell back and she panted for air.

"Not bad, Orihime. As of now, you can rest. The Vizaards should be coming soon as to help you with your hollow powers." Orihime nodded and bowed to her and Yoruichi only raised her up and smiled.

Ichigo had watched Orihime train from a distance, but not too far away. He sat on a high rock and he saw Ururu come running in with a pitch of ice cold water. Orihime had gulped down the water and immediately gulped down another glass.

"She's gotten stronger, you know." Yoruichi said behind Ichigo. He slightly jumped at her sudden voice, but nodded.

"Yeah. Her reiatsu has gotten stronger as well."

"It seems kind of like yours. She seems to have been affected by you more than you know, Ichigo." Ichigo didn't respond and Yoruichi had excused herself as to saying that she needed to see Kisuke.

Ichigo stood up after Yoruichi had left and walked over to Orihime. Her breath was steady now and she gazed out into the thin air. "Orihime?" Her eyes glanced over at him and then looked away. She smiled, but didn't say anything. "Are you okay? You're not strained anywhere, right?"

"No. I'm fine. I feel kind of… rushed, actually. Like I'm doing something useful for once." This time she looked into his eyes and they didn't waver. Ichigo realized that she had gotten her resolution and nothing would stop her from not keeping it. Just like him.

"Oh, well, uh, that's good." He was quiet for a moment and then said how he needed to do something upstairs. She nodded and continued to gaze out in front of her. Hesitating to stand up, he slowly walked up and passed by a closed bedroom door. He had heard some muffled sounds and… groaning?! Ichigo slightly blushed and quickly continued walking. _Maybe I was imagining it… __**Yeah, with you and your princess! **_Ichigo's hollow smirked and he only ignored the comment. He needed some fresh air. Though, once he had opened the front door of the shop, he saw Shinji and Hiyori at the door. He suddenly jumped, not expecting to see them or anyone in fact, at the front door. Softly sighing, he mumbled, "She's downstairs." And he walked right past them.

"Well, that was rude!" Hiyori commented loudly. Shinji didn't reply.

Ichigo slowly walked around the block and had kept on thinking to himself as to why he's so bothered with Orihime training. It's not that he's scared she'll get hurt… She's definitely gotten stronger. But… _**But what kingy? **__Please, not now.__** Oh, come on. I'm probably the best person to talk to you about this. I am your instinct anyways.**_ Smirking proudly, Ichigo tsk-ed at his hollow in his head. _**Oh, come on. Hear me out. Your dumbass of a head isn't gonna find an answer to this question. **__I said not now! Fuck._ Ichigo turned the corner and sighed. _**You're scared that she's going to become stronger than you and then she'll leave you for someone better. Face it, king. She's gonna get stronger… and maybe a fitter body too. **_His hollow began to chuckle inwardly and Ichigo realized that his hollow was right. _Dammit._

_Ichigo hasn't come back…_ Orihime looked up into the "sky" of the room and her forehead creased in worry.

"Pay attention to your opponent!" Hiyori yelled.

Spinning around, Orihime laid her sword up. Her hollow mask covered her face, the bright orange brush streaks against the pale white. Her eyes brightly glowed of gold against the never-ending black. "Who said I did?" She hissed. Somehow, she was different with her hollow mask on. It's like both personalities mixed in with one another.

"Tsk."

A smirk. A grunt. Metal scraped against metal.

Ichigo stepped back into the shop and felt Orihime's presence underneath him. It had finally comforted him with the fact that her reiatsu had gotten stronger. Quickening his pace, he jogged downstairs and saw everyone in a circle eating food, except for Orihime. He sensed her eyes going to him when he entered, and he smiled at her. She smiled back too, but it was small and he knew something was wrong. Going towards her, he looked into her eyes and apologized.

"I am so sorry Orihime. I was acting pretty… weird. And I shouldn't have been."

"No, it's fine Ichigo. Honestly." Softly yawning, Orihime put laid a hand over her mouth.

"Tired?"

She nodded her head and Ichigo had walked over to where Shinji, Hiyori, Kisuke and Yoruichi were sitting. "You guys wouldn't mind if Orihime ended her training for today?"

"Oi, who do you think you are saying when-,"

"Take her. She's good for now. But we still have to train her." Shinji interrupted her and was soon hit by a sandal on the head.

"Who in the hell told you to tell him to take her!"

"I did. No one had to tell me. And don't you dare hit me with that sandal again! Wait, wait. Not my balls!" Ichigo quickly took the time he could get to get her away and she followed him in pursuit.

"Ah, thank you Ichigo. You really didn't have to-,"

"I wanted to spend time with you. It's been a while." Ichigo looked into her eyes and she smiled.

"It's only been like half a day, Ichigo." She breathily laughed out loud.

"Well, half a day seems like forever," he huskily replied leaning into her closer and closer…

Their lips made contact and shivers ran through both of their bodies from the tips of their noses down to their toes.

End of day one of training.

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Please review!!! I'm so happy that I got this out today. I know these chapters are getting shorter and shorter and I do truly apologize, but I really just want to get these chapters out or else I'd take a month writing them. Anyways, if you review, you'll get a plushie Ulquiorra! xD

**Next Chapter:** The princess and the knight spend a day together without any worries… or do they?


	8. Here We Are

Okay, chapter 8!! This won't be the last chapter, but since I'm not ending it, I need you guys to bear with me for my lack of ideas right now. So, it just might take me longer to write… and please don't get mad at me for it being shorter than the others. I shall try to keep my limit for up to 3000 words or more, but I can't do any promises. Anyways, a poll should be on my profile for my one-shot based on a song. So, once it pops up on my profile, please vote! Enjoy reading. :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach. I don't own a lot actually, but I do own this story! :D … Crappy, I know. xD

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Orihime smoothed out her pastel blue dress. It scooped down to her chest, but not too low. She was modest after all. It stopped right above her knees and swayed whenever she walked. Today was _her_ day with Ichigo. And no one was going to ruin that. _**Of course not, my princess. Maybe you should make him yours forever by, you know.**_ Orihime's hollow winked and she turned beet red. _O-of course not! I-I could n-never do- __**Hey, remember, you almost did.**_ Snickering in her mind, her hollow brought back the memory to her of during the winter break. Orihime had tried to get the memory away; right now really wasn't the right time for her hollow to give her a memory. Especially _this_ one. _Now I know how Ichigo feels…_ Grimacing, she slowly sat down on her bed, feeling quite low. A couple minutes later after Orihime was arguing with herself in her mind, her front door opened and she jumped up.

"Ichigo?!" She stepped outside her bedroom door and there stood her prince of everything.

"Who else did ya expect?" Ichigo replied, closing the door behind him. Orihime had given him a copy of her key a couple of days before… surprisingly enough… to him.

"No one." Smiling, Orihime walked up to him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

_Well, she's become a little more… more… __**Hot?! Sexy?! Oh wait, she's been that this whole time.**__ Shut up!__** Somethin' wrong kingy? Getting a little horny from her sudden kiss already? Damn you're fucking weak. **_Cackling with laughter in Ichigo's head, Orihime knew he was arguing with his hollow. She could tell with the look on his face.

"Uh, Ichigo?" She really didn't want to interrupt him with his hollow, but then again she thought it might have been a good idea. Sometimes she wished she was interrupted by her hollow at times.

"Yeah?" Ichigo looked at her, but still looked pretty pissed off.

"Ah, never mind." Orihime turned around and went inside her bedroom.

"Uh, okay…"

_All he says is okay…? __**Oh, what a dumbass. You fell in love with a fuckin' dumbass. Great job, PRINCESS. **__Hey! Leave Ichigo out of this!__** I can't. He's practically the main problem for you in your inner world, you know. I say you leave him! **_

"I SAID TO SHUT UP!"

"Orihime?"

Wide-eyed, Orihime quickly turned around to see that Ichigo had followed her into her bedroom."Uh, not you Ichigo. Sorry. Inner hollow. Hehe." She tried to smile as best as she could, but Ichigo had known her for too long.

"Orihime, what happened?" He walked up close to her, but not seductively. More like protectively, worried.

"Ah, nothing. Honestly. Nothing."

Ichigo knew it was nothing, but he didn't want to push her. Deeply sighing, he replied with a soft okay.

"So, are we going to go now?"

"Yea. Lets' go." Ichigo reached out for her hand and Orihime gladly took it.

***

After about a half hour walk, Orihime grew a bit impatient. "Ano, Ichigo, where are we going?"

"You'll see. Right… about… now."

Among the horizon, there was a large Ferris wheel, inflated castles and houses, food stands, games. You guess it. Ichigo took Orihime to a carnival.

"Wow! Thank you, Ichigo!" Hugging him tightly, more tightly than usual Ichigo noted to himself. "C'mon, let's go!" Grabbing his hand, Orihime began to run towards the carnival. Ichigo couldn't help but to smile at the childness his girlfriend still had in her. As they got closer, music began to fill their ears and delicious food filled their nostrils. At first they ran past a stand of cotton candy, Orihime immediately stopped and whirled around. "Cotton… candy!"

"Uh, you want some?"

"Oh, I don't know. I really don't want to-,"

"One cotton candy, please."

"Ichigo!"

"I know you want it, and I wasn't going to take no as an answer."

The man gave him the cotton candy as Ichigo paid him the money. "Here."

"… Thank you Ichigo." Orihime said happily and then took a large bite from the fluffy candy. Ichigo began to chuckle and Orihime faced him, wondering what in the world he was chuckling about. Right when she opened her mouth to ask, he began to wipe the side of her lips.

"You had cotton candy around your mouth."

Slightly laughing as well, she ran up to a booth in which had milk bottles lined up against shelves.

"Come right up! Knock down three bottles and get a big teddy bear! Only for one dollar! Come right up!"

"Ooh, Ichigo! Let's do it!" Slightly blushing at the weird comment, Ichigo took out a dollar and handed it to the man.

"You sure you can do it, Orihime? If you need help, I could help you."

Smiling, she replied, "I can do it by myself, thank you very much." Shrugging his shoulders, Ichigo stepped aside and watched Orihime. The man handed her the baseball and she stepped back, threw her arm back and the ball came flying out of her hand.

"…"

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" The man yelled. Jumping up and down from joy, the man handed her the big teddy bear and she happily hugged it. People who were watching from behind (mostly guys) were applauding and in awe.

"See, Ichigo. I told you I could do it by myself!"

"Hehe, yeah…" Scratching the back of his head, Ichigo looked down to the floor.

"Ice cream! Get your ice cream!"

_Shit…_

"ICE CREAM! I wonder if they have red bean paste flavored…" Some stomachs flipped from overhearing Orihime's comment. She shoved the brown teddy bear into Ichigo's arms and ran to the Ice Cream stand. Ichigo began to cough since some teddy bear hairs had got into his mouth. He quickly followed Orihime, not risking losing her in such a crowd.

"Ice cream right here! Would you like some, miss?" She nodded and the man began to list the flavors he had. "I got vanilla, chocolate, vanilla and chocolate mixed, Oreo Cookies and Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip and strawberry. Which one?"

Smiling to herself and looking at Ichigo, she replied, "Strawberry. It's my favorite one." Ichigo's face turned red and Orihime laughed. The man handed her the Strawberry ice cream and Ichigo paid the dollar.

"Wasn't vanilla your favorite one?" Ichigo asked her.

"Not anymore. It's strawberry now." Smiling, she licked the ice cream and kept on walking. Although, she began to get a headache and she stopped walking for a second and Ichigo looked at her worriedly.

"Orihime…?"

He could've sworn he saw her stop breathing for a couple of seconds. Then he heard her take a deep breath and she lifted her head up. "I'm okay." But she didn't look okay. It just didn't _feel_ okay to him.

"Come see the strongest man in the world!" Someone yelled to Orihime's left. A man with a top hat and ringmaster-type clothes stood in front of a tent that had a sign saying 'Freak Show.' Orihime saw the sign and told Ichigo that she'd be right back.

"What'd you say?"

"Wait here." Orihime said once more, except more demanding. She let go of his hand and Ichigo felt sudden cold air.

"Orihime! Where're you going! Orihime!"

She walked up to the man and pointed down to the sign. "That's not a very nice sign you know."

"Excuse me?" He replied, shocked at the sudden comment.

"Just because some people are different doesn't mean they're freaks! If you have unique people in here, it should be called the 'Unique Show' not the 'Freak Show'!"

"Uh, sorry. I, uh…" The man coughed and began to tug at his collar. Some people began to form a little semi-circle around them, checking to see what the commotion was about.

"Change the sign, _now._" The man looked into her eyes and he saw black starting to form around her pupils and he didn't dare to argue with her.

"O-of course. I-I didn't m-mean to o-offend a-anyone." He grabbed a pen from his pocket and crossed out 'Freak' and replaced it with 'Unique'.

"Of course you didn't. Maybe next time you should consider the feelings of the people in there instead of just making money for yourself." She began to turn around, but she then glanced inside the tent and saw a girl her own age smile. The girl seemed to mouth 'Thank you' and Orihime only smiled back to her.

"Orihime?! What in the world was that about?"

"Justice. Fairness. And I guess, I wanted to protect and defend those people. If they were freaks for beings so strong, or weird looking, or way too flexible, then what am I? A monster?" She stared ahead of her and Ichigo was speechless. He honestly had no idea where this was coming from. He suddenly heard her take a deep intake of breath and for a second, he thought she was going to pass out. Although, she opened her eyes again and she smiled at him.

"Where to next Ichigo?" Her aura seemed completely different now. It was more happy, and giddy. _What in the world is happening with her…?_

"Uh, I don't know. I guess we should keep walking and see what comes up."

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we'll pass by more food stands too!" Slightly dozing out thinking about food, Orihime had no idea of what just happened a couple minutes ago. After all, she wasn't really there.

Walking forward, Orihime played more carnival games and at times she won the big prizes and then she won the grand prize ones. They ended up seeing the Strength-O-Meter and Orihime encouraged Ichigo to go.

"Oh, c'mon Ichigo! You haven't played one yet. Show these guys your strength! Your strong muscles! The way they make your arms look so…" Orihime trailed off and blushed furiously.

"So what, Orihime?" Ichigo asked, smirking. He tilted her face up and he brought their faces and lips _very_ close together. "What prize will I get for winning?"

"U-uh… I… don't… know…"

"Well, I'm not going to do it if I don't have any prize to motivate me with, _Orihime_." He slowly began to stroke his hand up and down her arm and he could feel Orihime's balance breaking down. Ending her misery, he kissed her, but not passionately only softly, and said, "That'll be for good luck. I'm expecting a prize later on." Orihime didn't do or say anything and Ichigo walked up to the man who was in charge of the "game."

"Ya think ya can hit to the top, _puny_ boy?" The guy laughed and Ichigo stuffed his hands into his jean pockets.

"I think so. I mean, I'll give it a try." Ichigo tried to say as innocently as possible. The guy snickered and handed Ichigo the hammer-thing.

"Ya know what do, righ'?" Ichigo nodded and the guy shook his head. Ichigo could already tell what the guy was thinking. Ichigo would barely get the thing to half-way point and go to his girlfriend with a small pink bear plushie. But he would prove him wrong. Ichigo lifted the hammer high above his head and threw down the hammer. The circle went high and a DING was heard.

"Wow. Must've been luck, I guess." Ichigo smirked and the guy glared at him. He handed him a large stuffed lion and somehow Kon came to Ichigo's mind. _What in the world happened with him anyways…?_

**Back in Ichigo's House**

Kon sat on a shelf in Yuzu's room, his heart racing and his eyes frantically looking around the room. _I can escape now… I think they left the house…_ He jumped down from the shelf and ran to Ichigo's room. _Nee-san! Why must you be with pineapple head! _He yelled in his head as he hid himself in Ichigo's closet.

**Back in the Carnival**

Ichigo gave the large lion to Orihime and she would've taken it, but her arms were too full. Laughing, he took a couple of stuffed animals from her and they both walked up to a stand and asked for a bag. Or two. Stuffing the bags with the stuffed animals, they continued on their way. They both walked a little straight ahead until Orihime saw a sign.

"A psychic reader!" Orihime gasped and began to lightly hop up and down. "Ooh, can we Ichigo? Canwe canwe?! Pleeeaaassseee?" Orihime knew that Ichigo hated these types of things, so to spice it up a bit, she began to bat her eyes at him, but not stupidly, and she slowly pressed her body up to his.

"Hehe, yeah. Sure. Why not…" Ichigo replied without thinking. _Dammit! __**Wow, she knows how to work you, kingy. **__Shut up.__** You're only saying that cause it's true. **_

_**Well, the princess actually knows how to get things her way. **__It wasn't like that… __**Right, of course it wasn't. OF COURSE IT WAS! Oh, don't be feelin' guilty for nothin'. People do this all the time, so suck it up. For a bit, I was proud of you.**__ Yeah, but I'm not the person to do that… to… manipulate. That's it, I'm gonna- __**Oh to hell you're not!**_

"Ichigo, I-," Once Orihime began to speak, she immediately felt a headache coming. _Oh no, no. Stop it! __**Then don't say anything! **__Fine…_

"What is it, Orihime?" Ichigo looked at her worriedly, she looked a bit paler than before.

"Uh, nothing. Never mind. Let's just go in." Orihime entered within the tent and it seemed to be larger inside than it looked outside. "Wow…"

"Helloo~! Have you come to listen to the wise words Madame Leonora?" Orihime nodded her head excitedly and Ichigo only began to massage his forehead, trying to keep himself calm. "Well, then. We shall begin. What's your name, young girl?"

"Oh, it's-," Madame Leonora immediately put her hand up and Orihime shut her mouth.

"I'm sensing a… O." She replied with closed eyed. Orihime gasped and Ichigo only thought that it was a lucky guess. "I feel… it's meaning as… a princess. Hime… Hmmm… But an 'O'…"

"Can't she just tell you herself and get on with it?!" Ichigo commented. Madame Leonora opened her eyes and glared at him.

"Well, mister grumpy pants, you don't have to exactly be HERE y'know." Ichigo shut up after that.

"Well, miss Orihime. We shall continue."

"You got my name!"

"I had it for a while now, but I like to keep it suspenseful. But your little boyfriend over there seems to be a little impatient." Orihime nodded and Madame Leonora continued. "Give me your left hand. Hmm… I see…"

"What?! What do you see?!" Orihime then frantically looked at her own hand to see if she could see what Madame Leonora was 'seeing.'

"A very kind-hearted girl. You will do anything for your friends… hmm, I guess you're not very close to your family… Oh, wait. Your sibling… but they're gone, aren't they? Quite an organized person. I'm guessing you are a Virgo. You're in love right now. Very deep love. It's been for a while, but you seem to be afraid… The future is happy, but until… Oh. Oh no. No, no, no." She then let go of Orihime's hand and had her own hand over her mouth.

"What? What is it?!" Orihime began to turn her hand this way and that in front of her face and then looked back at Madame Leonora.

"A very dark moment is in the horizon. It will shatter your heart to pieces… And you have to do with it." She looked to Ichigo and his eyes widened.

"What does this have to with me?!"

"You're the cause of it. You hold her heart, and you break it."

Silence.

"Hehe. I-I don't think that I-Ichigo would do t-that anytime s-soon. So, w-we'll just b-be leaving…" Orihime stood up from her chair, but then her hand was grabbed on by the psychic.

"Be careful. This is not something that someone like you deserves, or should be going through. You have quite a fragile heart and mind, and yet, it can be strong. But you'll be unprepared when it comes. I'm telling you now, _prepare._"

"C'mon Orihime." Ichigo took her hand back and they left the tent.

Neither of them was in the mood for anything else so they decided to back to Orihime's place. Neither were talking, not a sound or squeak.

"I-I'm sorry…" Orihime mumbled. She stopped and was looking down at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure it was just a bunch of crap anyways. Who can trust those kinds of people these days? All they want is money! Money, money, money. Don't worry Orihime. Everything will be fine." He lifted up her chin and smiled his genuine smiles that were reserved for here.

"Of course, Ichigo." She smiled back at him, but in her heart, she felt doubt that this woman wasn't lying. Maybe, just maybe, her heart might just shatter in the mere future.

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I know I just got like, one chapter (not even) of fluffiness after the seriousness and then this happens, but I need to keep something going! Sorry, I know you guys miss the fluffiness. I kinda do too, but I am being lead to write about this. Anyways, remember to vote on the poll in my profile! It should definitely be up, so please please please please please please please please please please please please please vote… with a cherry on top. :D And review if you have time!

**Next Chapter:** Was this mad psychic right? What is Orihime going to do? What is Ichigo going to do? What are YOU going to do? Find out on the next chapter!!


	9. You're Going Down

Here is the 9th chapter! Wow, I really thought it wouldn't have gone this far. But thank goodness it has! And it's thanks to all you readers and reviewers! You guys are the ones who keep me going! Okay, Imma stop. I sound like as if I'm getting an award. Ha-ha. Anyways, please review at the end of your reading! And vote on my poll as well! Please! I know I may sound desperate… and I kind of am. Anyways, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** It is my dream to own Bleach. But I must face reality. It belongs to Tite Kubo. *tears*

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Orihime silently changed channels on her television, but finding nothing entertaining on, she turned it off. She just sat there on her couch, the darkness enveloping her. Staring into the bank screen, Orihime couldn't help but to hear the haunting words from the psychic.

"_A very dark moment is in the horizon. It will shatter your heart to pieces..."_

Orihime shook her head, attempting to shake away the bad thoughts. The silence didn't help; the sound seemed to ring in her ears. The ticking of her clock just had her think that she was closer to this "dark moment" of hers. Just ticking time away. Her life away. Sighing, she stood up and walked to her bedroom. She didn't feel physically tired, but she was mentally. She took her time getting ready for bed, starting off with a warm shower. She changed into her pajamas and rolled herself into bed. Slowly closing her eyes, she searched for Ichigo's reiatsu. Smiling at the comfort of it, she fell asleep.

"_Orihime…"_

"_Tenjitsubaria?"_

"_I'm… fading… Orihime…"_

"_Tenjitsubaria?" Silence._

"_Tenjitsubaria?!"_

"_TENJITSUBARIA!" _

_I frantically searched for my zanpakto, but I didn't find her anywhere. The ground beneath me had begun to move. Clouds began to form above me. The sun was blocked out._

"_Hello, my princess."_

_I immediately turned around and there was my hollow, holding Tenjitsubaria in her hand._

"_Where is she? What did you do to her?!"_

"_Me? Why do you think I did anything?" Snickering, she began to spin the sword by its bright orange hilt._

"_Yes, you did do something!"_

"_Really? Maybe it was you who was pushing her away. Maybe it was _you_ who was killing her."_

"_Shut up!"_

"_Wow. Someone is getting' feisty." Cackling with laughter, she ran to Orihime and raised her sword. "You're weak, Orihime Inoue!"_

_Orihime called out Tenjitsubaria and the sword appeared in her hand. "We'll see who the weak one here is."_

"_Tsk."_

_Orihime blocked a hit from her and after a few attacks, Orihime had managed to cut her hollow on her upper arm. Smiling, she raised her sword once more and yelled her next attack._

"_Burn and protect, Tenjitsubaria!" _

"_Hehe. Burn and protect, Tenjitsubaria!" Her hollow had yelled out the same attack and blocked Orihime's. Wide-eyed, Orihime had no idea on what to do next."I guess you just realized this. Yes, princess. I can do the _exact_ same moves as you." Orihime opened her mouth to ask a question, but her hollow continued to speak. "When did I learn? Why, the same time you did. Wow. What a stupid girl. This is why you are _weak_."_

"_Shut up…" Her hollow began to laugh and slowly raised her voice. "I SAID TO SHUT UP!" I ran up to her and then flash stepped behind her and raised my arm high-_

_But I couldn't do it. I looked at my hands and saw they were transparent. My arm was disappearing as well!_

"_Bye-bye, _princess_."_

Orihime jolted upright, and her head suddenly hit something.

"What in the-? Oh my gosh! Ichigo?!"

He was bent over, his hand massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there, I thought I was alone, wait why're you here? What happened? Is everything okay? Are you hurt? Is your nose bleeding?! Oh my gosh, Ichigo, I am so sorry. I didn't-,"

"Orihime." She shut up. "I'm fine. No, my nose isn't bleeding… anymore. What happened to you?!"

"What do you mean 'what happened to me'? I was here, sleeping."

"I… You… Your reiatsu. It went high one moment and then spiked so low, I couldn't sense it. And at one point, it was almost like you were in your hollow form."

Orihime's eyes widened at that and she laid herself back down. "I don't know what's happening to me, Ichigo. I just feel so alone, and _angry_. I… I just went into my inner world, or maybe it was a dream about my inner world, but I was fighting my hollow again. And Tenjitsubaria had faded away. I couldn't reach her Ichigo!" She then sat up straight very quickly and looked into his eyes. He looked confused and worried. "Isn't everything supposed to be fine? I defeated my hollow! I defeated it dammit! I defeated it…" Tears began to roll down her cheeks and she softly began to sob.

"Orihime…" Ichigo sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. He began to run his fingers through her hair, knowing that that usually calms her down. And predictably enough, her cries quieted down. "Let's go see Urahara. Maybe he can explain what's going on."

***

"Hmm. Interesting. Very interesting. I know what it is."

"Really?!" Ichigo and Orihime yelled in unison.

"Of course!" Urahara smiled and flailed his fan towards them. "Did you really think I wouldn't get something as simple as this?"

"…"

"Either way," he noted seriously, "I was expecting this. But my, Orihime, you seem to always do things ahead of when I expect it. It catches me off-guard at times, you know."

"Um, Mister Urahara, but will you please now explain what's going on with me?"

"You're a human, Orihime. Well, _were_ a human. You had suddenly and rapidly, might I add, gotten two extra powers. Your Shinigami powers and your hollow. No one had ever gotten this much power is such little time. Your old powers came about because of Ichigo's high reiatsu. It occurred _over time_. Your new powers had come about because you had to deal with them right then and there. You had to quickly obtain them or else you would have died. Now, the consequences of obtaining these new powers are catching up. Your hollow isn't going to be as obedient as it would be for Ichigo's, for example. He had already gotten his Shinigami powers before this. Are you following so far?"

"So, since I was a human before and I got my new powers all at one shot, they're going haywire?"

"Exactly. I knew you were a smart girl!" He smiled once more and Orihime nervously laughed. Ichigo sat idly beside her, trying to soak in the information.

"Okay. You said you weren't expecting it to come so quickly. Do you know why it's coming before it's supposed to?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, I have no definite answer for that one, but it may be because of her stress. For women, and men to an extent I guess, their stress causes a change in their hormones and their hormones affect how they feel and the way they think. Now Orihime may have been under a lot of stress and I'm sure her actions were different than normal. This makes her mind, and her inner world, become a weak spot and very easy to control. Hence, I'm sure the hollow within her had seen the opportunity and jumped to it. If she wasn't under so much stress, maybe it would have attacked her about, let's say, a week or two. It's really not much of a difference, but still. As for now, something must've caused her to sway. Has anything happened that may put your heart in trouble, Orihime?" Urahara then looked at Orihime with sincere eyes. She opened her mouth, but then closed it once more. How could she say out loud that she was worried about what the psychic said? How could she say that she was worried about her future with Ichigo? She told him just a couple of nights before that she was okay, that she wasn't worried.

"Orihime? What's wrong?"

By this time, she was crying. There were no sobs, but it was a silent cry. The tears just started to roll down her face.

"I'm sorry… But I lied, Ichigo." His eyes slightly widened and confusion and hurt crossed his eyes. He then composed his face into no emotion. "I was scared… of the future." He was about to open his mouth, but Orihime cut him off. "I don't want to hear that it's a bunch of bull! Cause you know what? I don't think it was! And I was stupid for lying to you, I know. But I can't help but to feel scared about what the woman said. I'm scared for what's going to happen to _us_. I'm scared, Ichigo… I'm just… scared…"

There was silence in the room and Orihime glued her eyes to the floor and Ichigo stared at Orihime. Urahara's eyes were averting back and forth between Orihime and Ichigo.

"My, oh my. What a time for a confession! Well, now we know." Urahara cleared his throat and weakly smiled. "Anyways, as I was saying-,"

"Why would you lie to me about that? Why Orihime?"

"Uh, maybe you can figure this out later like-,"

"I said I was sorry already." Orihime's eyes gazed over to the wall on her left so that the back of her head was facing Ichigo.

"But that doesn't cut it Orihime!"

"So then what does for you, huh? Oh, almighty king, what have I done wrong?!" Orihime sarcastically bowed before him quickly and then sat up straight again, looking straight into his eyes.

"Beneath all of this, this shows you don't trust me!"

"What are you? A girl?"

Ouch.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ichigo stood up and walked away. Urahara stayed quiet and wasn't looking at either of them. Orihime didn't speak for a bit and had her head hung low. Sure she was quiet, but that was normal since she had just had a fight for the first time with her boyfriend. But, she was still. She wasn't breathing.

"Orihime?" Urahara immediately went up to her and shook her body. No response. "Orihime?!" At that point, she raised her head and blinked.

"Mister Urahara? Wow. I blanked out. What just happened?"

_She doesn't know. This is going to be harder than I thought._ "Your hollow took over again. It wasn't very aggressive, but it could get worse Orihime. We need to fix this immediately."

"Oh no. It did? What happened? I thought I heard Ichigo's voice a while ago…"

"Well, he, uh, left."

"Why?"

"Your hollow had offended him quite badly, but he thought it was you. He didn't know it was your hollow saying all those things."

"What! I have to go and explain it to him." She stood up, but as she opened the door, Tessai stood in front of her.

"I'm sorry Orihime, but I can't have you go after him right now."

Orihime turned around, worried and confused. "What do you mean? Why can't I leave?"

"Right now you are unstable. And you're a danger for others Orihime. I can't risk having others get hurt because of this. I'm sorry, but you can't leave." Orihime's eyes widened and she felt Tessai grab her wrists and put them behind her back. He did some type of kidou to bind them and Orihime hung her head low.

"I understand. I must not leave the premises."

***

Ichigo slowly walked back home, his head hung low. _Dammit! Why us? Why now? Why her…? _Sighing deeply, he walked into his house and headed straight upstairs. He was surprised that his father hasn't come to try and attack him. Opening his bedroom door,he raised his head and saw Rukia gazing out of his bedroom window. She didn't turn around to look at him, or even said hello. She didn't move a muscle since he opened the door.

"Uh, Rukia?" No response. "Earth to Rukia!" No response. "Fine, don't say anything." He shut the door behind him and sat down on his bed. He stayed in that position, gazing at his closet. Rukia stayed staring out of the window. No words were shared between the two. Ichigo was stuck in his own thoughts and Rukia in hers. After a couple of minutes, Ichigo sighed and looked over to her. He looked closely at her face and saw that there were dry tear tracks. "Hey. What happened?" She didn't answer. He sighed once more, more out of impatience than anything else. That was when she spoke.

"He… he broke up with me… I mean, I get it, but still… It just _hurts_." Rukia's voice was hoarse. Ichigo could tell she must've been crying a lot earlier.

"Well, this just proves how much of a dumbass he is." She gave him a look of exasperation, and he muttered an apology. "I just thought saying that might've made you feel better. Sorry."

"No, I get it. I guess. It's just, I don't want to feel happy, in some really weird way, I want this misery. I have no idea if that even makes sense."

"I guess it does, to an extent. A very weird extent, might I add." Rukia sighed and slumped her shoulders forward.

"Anyways, I'm sure you don't want to hear all of my crap. Where's Orihime?" Ichigo didn't respond to that. "You dumbass! Did you ruin the relationship already?"

"Oh, right! I'm the dumbass when I try to fucking keep us together and she's the one having doubts!" Rukia didn't say anything to that. "And honestly, I thought she was the stronger one in our relationship. But I guess I was wrong. I'm always fucking wrong." He laid his elbows upon his knees and placed his head in his hands.

"I guess the both of us are going through bull right now." Rukia averted her eyes back out to the window and back to Ichigo. _He must really love her. I've never seen him so… sad._ "So. What now?"

"Like I know."

"Well, isn't that a relief?" Rukia sarcastically commented. Ichigo only glared at her. "Hey, I'm a girl with a broken heart. I'm bound to get cranky on you."

"Yeah. Whatever."

"… Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you?" Ichigo turned his head to look at Rukia and she hesitated to answer. He watched her take a deep breath and then she shook her head no as she exhaled. "Same here." He continued to stare at the closet. It was silent in the room once more. "Uh, I was wondering… do you wanna go out? I kinda need a distraction right now." Ichigo didn't look at her neither did he display any emotion in his voice or face.

Rukia's eyes widened at the sudden question, but then composed herself once more. "Sure, why not. I need a distraction too I guess."

"Cool. Let's go." Ichigo stood up and Rukia followed him out into the night.

***

Orihime was in the underground cavern lying down on her back on the rocky floor. Tessai had a strange purple-like glow above her stomach and Orihime couldn't help, but to feel very exposed.

"Sir, it isn't here."

"Hmm. Damn that Aizen was smart."

"Uh, Mister Urahara? What exactly are you planning on doing?"

"Well, I wanted to check and see if maybe the pill that Aizen had given you had dissolved or not. If it hadn't, well we could've taken it out easy in one, two, and three. But apparently, he knew the right mixture to have this pill dissolve and be a part of your blood. So, we can't take it out."

"Uh, how about you create a pill to eliminate the chemicals that were in Aizen's pill?"

"See, I thought of that too! But, I realized it can't happen. It'll take a large amount of time to create and by then, who knows if you'll be consumed by your hollow. Right now, we need something fast-acting. Plus, the chemicals from the pill have practically been a part of your body. If I dare put anything to go against that, it could possibly kill you."

"I see…"

_**You see princess. This is what happens when you're WEAK! Hahaha! **__You're the weak one! __**Really? I'm not the one being controlled by someone else. Face it. It's over.**_

"It's not over…"

"Orihime?" Urahara looked questioningly to the auburn girl.

"IT'S NOT OVER!"

Her reiatsu spiked up and her scream filled the cavernous room. Her hollow had seemed to pop out and kept on going back and forth with Orihime.

"Damn, it's too late… Tessai!"

"Yes sir!"

"You know what to do."

"Of course!"

"Sadly, Orihime Inoue, it has come down to this."

***

Ichigo and Rukia were at a night carnival that was a town away. They took the bus over there and neither of them had let the other think about their ex-significant other. Rukia was just about to shoot Ichigo with a paintball, but the both of them had felt something odd. That was when they felt Orihime's reiatsu.

_It can reach all the way from here?!_

_Oh man. What has happened to her now?!_

They both looked at each other and they both knew that they had to go back. No words were exchanged, they just knew. Both of them had begun to run over to the bus station, but they had just missed the bus by a second.

"Shit!"

"Ichigo!" He looked over to Rukia. "Change to your Shinigami form. Use shunpo to get over there."

"But I don't have Kon with me! How in the hell am I gonna do that?"

"Um, well…"

"Nee-san! I don't want to be hiding anymore! I want to, ugfmhur ahfighu-," Rukia had pulled Kon from behind and took out the small pill from his stuffed mouth.

"I took him with me just in case."

"Okay…" Ichigo didn't oblige, but was still weirded out a bit. He popped the pill inside his mouth and was immediately in Shinigami form. "Take care of my body, Kon!"

"Sure thing!" He waved to him and Rukia just stood there, thinking as to what to do next. "Nee-sa-!" He was cut off by being kicked in the face.

"Just because you're in his body doesn't mean you can do whatever you want." Kon nodded as to say that he understood.

***

Ichigo was trying to go as quick as he could. Somehow, it didn't matter as to what happened before. It just didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was going to be safe in his arms. Nothing else. Ichigo pushed his legs forward and he could sense that he was getting closer. Softly smiling that he would see her again, he jumped in front of Urahara Shop. He was about to run inside when he sudden felt… nothing. He couldn't feel her reiatsu! Quickly running downstairs, he saw Tessai have his hand _inside_ Orihime's stomach. Blood began to stain her clothes around the wound. Her eyes looked so… _dead_.

"No… no… NO! ORIHIME!"

* * *

Eep! I know this was a very serious chapter. I hope I explained everything well! If you have questions about anything, or something that I may have forgotten to explain, please let me know. You can either add it to your review (which I hope you do) or you can message me. Also, please vote on my poll! It's on my profile. On the top. It's not very hard to find. Or to do. So please, vote. I'll take out a few choices after a couple of days if it has no or the least amount of votes. So, it will change from time to time. But not now. It's still the same right now. So vote! Pretty please. And review! Please. If you do, you'll get a large lion and Kon! xD You will get 2 things because I'm celebrating that I have surpassed my limit of more than 3000 words in my chapter! Whoo hoo! Yeah! Okay, I'll stop now...

**Next Chapter: **Is our Hime dead? What is Ichigo going to do? We all have to wait until the next chapter! *evil music playing*


	10. Stay Alive

Here it is! The ending is kind of crappy, but it's your opinion! Please review when you're done reading and vote on my poll for my one-shot as well! And I shall add my thank-you's to special people who have done something that have made my heart warm. xD

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or anything of the sort. As much as I would like to.

* * *

Orihime's body hung over Tessai's hand. Her eyes drooped over, no life within them whatsoever. Ichigo incredulously looked at Orihime, not wanting to believe that she was dead. _She can't be. __**She isn't, kingy**__. __**Stop getting so sad and pathetic. **__How do you know she's not dead?! __**Let's just say, that as you got used to her presence, I got used to her hollow's presence. **__How the fuck did you do that? __**Does that really matter?! Go save your fucking girlfriend! **__Right…_

"Drop her…"

"Ichigo-," Urahara had walked over to him, but stopped talking when Ichigo raised Zangetsu against his chest.

"You're going to bring her back, you got that?" He lifted his head and made eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. But I can't do that."

"AND WHY THE HELL NOT?!"

"She's a danger to the town. It isn't good that her growth was all at once. If you had _stayed_ maybe things could've gone a different way."

"DON'T FUCKING BLAME THIS ON ME!"

Urahara sighed and pushed Zangetsu away. "If she's going to live, it's up to herself." He then pointed at Orihime who was now lying down on the floor.

Ichigo ran over to her body and picked her up by her shoulders. "Orihime, please hear me. Don't die… I can't have you die…" And for once for all to see, the knight shed tears upon the princess.

**Orihime's Inner World**

Orihime sat in the field, watching her world collapse all around her. The grass was a dying brown, no sun or light, strong winds… A small metal chain hung from the middle of her chest and she didn't dare pull on it. Her hollow appeared before her and smirked.

"Enjoying the sight, _princess?_"

"Haven't you thought that if I die, you'll go along with me?" Orihime responded, ignoring her previous comment.

"Do you really think that I am as weak to fall down _with_ you? I will take over your body before it's too late. Unlike a horse and its king, I don't fall down with it when the king is hit." Orihime didn't say anything. "Wow. What a fight you're giving. Eh, I guess it's easier for me. No problems to deal with. Although, I am quite bored. Oh well." At that moment, her hollow had laid her right hand upon the ground, and at that same time, a voice rocketed as through out of the sky.

"Orihime, please hear me. Don't die… I can't have you die…"

_Ichigo!_ Orihime's eyes widened at hearing his voice in her inner world, and she stood up.

"I guess you'll get your wish. Sorry but, I don't want to give up my throne just yet." Orihime made Tenjitsubaria appear in her hand and her hollow maniacally smiled.

"Wow. The princess had some bite in her. Let's go, Orihime Inoue!" They ran to each other and their swords hit against one another.

**Regular World**

Orihime's eyes had opened and Ichigo almost jumped in joy, but realized that they weren't her eyes. They began to form the gold pupils and he saw the black beginning to form at the corners of her eyes.

"So, it has begun."

"Didn't she beat it once already? Why does her hollow want to fight again?"

"Did you not listen before?! Orihime was _human_! Her body couldn't cope with the sudden growth of power! Her hollow isn't going to obey as well as yours did after your one fight. She has to defeat it as many times as it'll take for it to comprehend that it isn't in power. Orihime has to learn on how to _master_ her hollow."

"So, this can happen again if she defeats it now?"

"It can happen a million times more, Ichigo. It'll happen until her hollow has learned that it isn't in control of her."

"Damn…"

Tessai had already put a barrier around Orihime and bound her with kidou. Somehow, her body wasn't trashing against the floor. In fact, it was quite calm. Too calm. Her body then got on its knees and stood up. Her eyes locked onto Ichigo's and Ichigo saw that its arms were trying to break apart from one another. Suddenly, Orihime's hands were apart from each other and she had walked closer to the edge of the barrier. Laying her hand upon the surface of it, she had kept her gaze on Ichigo.

**Orihime's Inner World**

Orihime barely had any scratches on her, but the same didn't go for her hollow. She was able to inflict a large gash across its chest and a couple of punches as well.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been so cocky about everything."

"Shut up! I'm in charge here!" Her hollow had run up to Orihime and raised her arm high, and Orihime immediately caught its arm and flipped her over onto the ground.

"Oh really? But who's the one getting beat up here?" Her hollow hissed at her and Orihime smirked. And then her hollow had done the same.

"But who's the one that has control over the body?" Her hollow remarked. "I've been with you for such a short time, and already I've grown onto to you. You're starting to become like _me_. Ha-ha! Who knew the innocent Orihime had the capability to _smirk_! Ha-ha!"

Orihime's eyes widened and she began to tighten her grasp on her hollow's neck. "Shut up! I'm nothing like you!" Still, no matter what she said, her hollow had kept on laughing. "I'm nothing like you... NOTHING!"

"Whatever you say, _princess._" Her hollow had suddenly disappeared from under her grasp and Orihime frantically looked around her. "Over here." She spun her head to her right. "No, over here." She then spun her head to her left. "Over here, my princess. Here. Here. Ha-ha!" Orihime bent down onto her knees, her hands covering her ears. Her hollow's voice was everywhere. It was overwhelming to her. _No, get your head straight! For Ichigo! Ichigo…_ Orihime had suddenly remembered why she had begun to fight her hollow in the first place. And why she was winning as well. She had him in her mind; she didn't want to disappoint him.

"And I won't disappoint you now, Ichigo." Orihime stood back up and closed her eyes, searching for her hollow's presence. _Tenjitsubaria…. __**I see you've found me once again, Orihime. **__I need your help. __**Very well. But remember, we have to do this together and you have to be focused. **__Hai…_

"You'll never beat me! I'm the one in power!" Orihime's hollow's voice was everywhere, but yet she still couldn't be seen.

"No, I am." Orihime said, her head held up high. She laid Tenjitsubaria in front of her chest and laid her left hand upon the smooth end of the blade. "Bankai." She swept her hand across the blade and it had immediately turned into flames. *"Sen en Tenjitsubaria."

Orihime raised her flaming sword to her left and her sword cut out like rays of the sun. It had grabbed her hollow and it squirmed from its grasp.

"What the-? No! If you learned it, then I know it, too! No! No!" Where the flamed were touching her hollow's skin, had caused it to burn. Soon, Orihime's hollow began to dissipate.

A wind began to settle down, and light began to shine through the many clouds that hung high in the sky. "I guess it's over…" Orihime mumbled. "Thank you, Tenjitsubaria." She smiled faintly down at her sword, which has gone back to its regular form. Orihime closed her eyes and she felt the metal chain slowly go away. _I'm coming back… Ichigo._

**Regular World**

Orihime's face began to slowly form the hollow mask, but it seemed to be breaking and forming over and over again. Plus, she had no hole in the middle of her chest.

"Oi, Urahara! Is that supposed to be happening?" Ichigo asked. He wanted to make sure that nothing would go wrong with Orihime at this point.

"I'm not sure…"

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU'RE NOT SURE?!"

"I'm only a lonely storekeeper!" Urahara then hid his face behind his fan and pretended to softly cry.

"Oh, cut that crap already! What the fuck is going on with her?!" Ichigo yelled, placing his hands on the storekeeper's shoulders.

"I told you, I'm not sure. I haven't dealt with anything like the case of Miss Orihime. She's definitely going through something that probably no one else has gone through."

"Shit…" Ichigo glanced back at Orihime and he saw that she was kneeled over, both of her hands covering her face. She then began to yell and tried to break off the mask that seemed to be forming much more rapidly now. "Orihime!" That was when she seemed to stop everything, like as if the world had begun to go still. Her head slowly looked up towards where Ichigo was, and he saw tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "Orihime…"

"I-Ichi… I-Ich…" She seemed to be panting, trying to catch her breath. That was when another scream escaped her lips and she kneeled down to the ground, as if she was in pain.

"No, no, no. Orihime!" Ichigo ran over to the barrier but then arms grabbed him at his stomach, pulling him back.

"Stop it, Ichigo!"

Ichigo looked behind him and his eyes widened. "Y-Yoruichi?!" She was the last person he expected to see.

"This is _her _battle." She pointed to Orihime and Ichigo took a deep breath and hung his head low. "Plus, do you think she'd like seeing you like this?" Yoruichi gave him a soft smile and Ichigo softly sighed.

"I guess…"

By this time, Orihime lashed her head back and a bright orange burst came about her. The high reiatsu had made everyone step back a bit and wide-eyed.

_Orihime…_

The mask was fully formed around her face and her hands slowly reached towards her face, taking off the mask in a swift movement. Orihime lifted up her head and had a faint smile on her face. Coincidently enough, she was already facing towards Ichigo. She took a deep breath and slumped over onto the ground. Ichigo ran over and wanted to just run through the barrier and hold her in his arms.

"Dammit, take down the barrier already!"

No one made a single movement.

"You guys! C'mon! Everything's fine! Take down the barrier!" Still, no one did anything.

"Tsk. Fine. I'll take it down myself." Ichigo rose up Zangetsu, but then strong hands grabbed his wrists. He looked up and saw Tessai. "Let me go." He didn't yell, but the way his voice sounded, there was no need for him to yell to show how he felt.

"Ichigo." This time Rukia had spoken his name. She had just gotten there, not exactly knowing what had just happened. Behind her was Kon, who was looking around with curiosity.

Ichigo shook off Tessai and put back Zangetsu. He walked over to Kon and reclaimed his body back. He walked back to the edge of the barrier and just sat there. Unmoving, not speaking. People soon began to leave or just go upstairs, but Ichigo stayed put. He watched Orihime just lay there, and he wanted to so badly just break the barrier. But he didn't want to risk anything. The young Shinigami watched her sleep, her chest slowly rising and then going back down. He was still quite surprised that she's able to sleep on such rough ground. _I guess she must be really tired…_ Orihime shifted onto her side and fluttered her eyes open. Ichigo put on a small smile for her, but didn't say anything.

"Ichigo? Ouch. Where am I?" Wincing, Orihime moved a rock from underneath her and began to observe where she was.

"Oh, you're still at Urahara's."

"Oh, right." She was quiet for a second and then spoke again. "Hey, why are you in a barrier, Ichigo?" Ichigo's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but no words came out. He just couldn't bear to tell her. Orihime looked at him questioningly and then looked around her once more. Her mouth formed an 'O' and she looked at him, as if telling him she knew. "Why am I still in the barrier?"

"I don't know. Those stubborn ass people won't let you-," He cut off mid-way when he saw her stand up and lay her hand against the barrier. Her fingers seemed to have gone through it and she slowly stepped out.

"To be honest, I thought that might've been harder to do than it was before. I haven't done that in a while." Orihime laid her hand behind her neck and nervously laughed. Ichigo looked at her incredulously, and then remembered that she had done this before when he was trying to master his own hollow powers. "Everything okay, Ichigo?" She looked at him worriedly and he nodded.

"Y-yeah. I'm just really happy that you're okay." He grabbed her hand and walked up to her, placing a small, soft kiss on her lips. She blushed, and how he missed those lips of hers. They both walked up the stairs and everyone stopped what they were doing. A cough was heard in the back.

"Ah! I see you got out there, Orihime!" Urahara gave her a smile and she smiled back.

"Yeah. Thank you, Mister Urahara."

"Oh, you're being too modest!"

"Wait. I'm lost now." Ichigo butt in.

"The only reason why I didn't break down the barrier was because I needed to make sure that our Miss Orihime was really herself. If she was able to pass through the barrier that I put up, that is somewhat like her own that her Shun Shun Rikka can make, then she was herself. If not, then we would've had to destroy her. Thankfully she's herself!" He gave a wide smile to Ichigo and Orihime and then walked away. Saying something about business with Yoruichi…

"Well then. I guess we're going to go. Ready Orihime?" She nodded and the both of them left the shop, holding hands.

"So, where do you want to go?" Ichigo asked.

"Uhm, I'm actually still kind of tired. You wouldn't mind taking me home, would you?" She glanced towards him, afraid that he might have gotten offended, but to her surprise, he shook his head.

"No problem. As long as it's alright that I can stay…" He smirked and Orihime's face flushed with embarrassment.

"O-of course not, Ichigo…"

"Good." The Vizaard had stopped walking and he turned his princess towards him and laid a kiss on her lips. Surprised at the sudden movement, Orihime laid her hands on his shirt and began to scrunch the fabric underneath her hands. Her right hand slowly moved up to his neck, also pushing him closer to him. They eventually pulled away, the both of them trying to catch their breath. "So, to your house right?"

"Mhm." Walking forward, Orihime dropped her hands beside her, but then felt the warmth of Ichigo's as he wrapped his own hand around hers. Looking up at him, she beamingly smiled and Ichigo gave her his own rare smiles. He pushed her closer to him and wrapped his left arm around her shoulder and left Orihime with no other choice, but to lean onto him for the rest of the walk.

***

Flipping through channels on the television, Ichigo decided to just turn it off. There was nothing good on anyways. His heart warmed once he looked at the face that was on his lap and he began to comb through her soft, auburn hair. She lay there on the couch, her eyes closed and her breathing in rhythm. Her face was so heavenly and… _Beautiful_. Ichigo couldn't help himself and he began to trace her cheek bones lightly with his finger. Slowly moving down to her soft lips, then her jaw and onto her neck and collarbone. But he stopped there. She was asleep after all. He didn't dare to make any type of move on her as she was sleeping. _**Rather get her reaction when she's awake, right Kingy? **__Just shut up._ Despite the little argument that he had with his hollow, Ichigo still managed to keep that soft look upon his face. Deciding that his girlfriend will get better sleep on her own bed, he picked her up and began to walk to her room. He laid her down, but then he felt a small touch upon his hand.

"Stay…" Orihime mumbled through half-lidded eyes. He smiled and lay down next to her on the bed. She placed her hands near her face and Ichigo took one of them, wrapping his large hands around her small hands. He placed a small delicate kiss upon her hand and put it back down, still having his hand with hers. Orihime involuntarily scooted closer to him so that her head was partly on his chest.

"I love you…" Ichigo mumbled, thinking that she was already in her deep slumber.

"I love you too," Orihime managed to get out through a yawn. Softly chuckling to himself, Ichigo moved a strand of hair away from her face and placed his hand on her waist.

And so the knight had gotten his princess in his arms.

**Meanwhile…**

Rukia stepped outside of Urahara's Shop and decided to go back to Ichigo's. There was nothing else for her to do. Sighing to herself, she began to think about Renji.

"Rukia!"

_Wow. I miss him so much, I even hear him calling my name…_

"Rukia!"

_Wait a minute! He is calling my name!_

Rukia stopped walking and turned around to face Renji who was trying to catch his breath. "What?" She wanted to be as cold to him as possible, even as much as she didn't want to be… if that made sense.

"I was stupid. I shouldn't have broken up with you. I just thought that maybe if anything were to happen to us, that it might've affected you-,"

"What made you think something was going to happen between us?"

"Well, its normal… isn't it?"

"It doesn't _have_ to happen. You just made it happen even quicker by breaking us up!"

"And I'm sorry. It's a lame ass excuse and I see that now. Plus… I miss you, Rukia." Renji didn't dare to make a step towards her, as much as he wanted to.

"You broke up with me for some stupid reason and you expect me to take you _back_?!" Renji looked down to the floor, already knowing where this was heading. "Baka. Of course I am." The raven-haired girl walked up to him and placed her right hand on his cheek. Smiling like a fool, Renji was about to lean in to kiss her, but was suddenly slapped. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me!" She yelled. Renji nodded numbly. "Okay, now you may kiss me." Hesitantly, he leaned down and placed his lips upon hers.

* * *

Okie dokie! The fluffiness had officially come back! Whoo hoo! :D I really tried to reach my 3000 words minimum promise, and so I included Rukia and Renji. I didn't fully explain why they broke up, but that's because I have no idea, to be honest. So use your imagination as to why!

*Sen en Tenjitsubaria: Flaming Rays of the Sun Barrier; sorry if you're Japanese and that's not really it, blame bad Japanese Translators on Google. xD

**Next Chapter:** All is well between Orihime and Ichigo, all worries are forgotten. But they eventually get bored and plan to prank the other lovebirds. But things get a bit hot midway. xD This is dedicated to **Derflinger** for giving me this idea! This story might end up turning rated M… o.O It's bound to happen, people!

I would also LOVE to thank **BleachFanJL** for posting on his own stories and his profile about my poll! Couldn't thank you enough for that. :) Oh, and please vote on my poll for my one-shot! He-he. And review! Please and thank you. :D


	11. First Time

Okay, things get heated up in here! But I have decided to keep the heat quite limited, so it is staying T for Teen. Thank you very much. Please enjoy and review at the end if you have the time!

Also, I have to thank again to **Derflinger** for giving me this idea! Giving props to them. :)

And I have to thank my wonderful friend **EverAngel27** for giving me the ideas of the pranks for Tatsuki/Ishida and Rukia/Renji. Props to her! :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach. But I do read and watch it! Oh my gosh, the last chapter is so freakin' AWESOME! I almost cried when I saw how it left me hanging… I will not give any details for those who don't read the manga. Okay, now you may proceed to read if you've been reading this.

* * *

"Uh, Ichigo?" Orihime sat at the end of Ichigo's bed and slightly shook him.

He stirred awake and then suddenly sat up from his bed. "Orihime! How did you…? What are you…?" Ichigo began to blush and slowly began to cover his shirtless self with his blanket.

"Oh, right. Yuzu opened the door for me. We both made breakfast, so, uhm, come down soon." Orihime blushed at the realization that he wasn't wearing any shirt and smiled to try to cover up her nervousness. She then quickly stood up and left the room.

"That wasn't awkward at all…" Ichigo mumbled to himself. He then quickly took a shower and got dressed and headed downstairs to the table. He was slightly scared at what the food might be, but he also knew that Yuzu had helped along with so it should be safe.

On the table were plates with bacon, scrambled eggs, a pile of pancakes and in a small bowl were cut strawberries.

"Wow. That looks _really_ good."

"Thank you, Ichi-nii! Actually, the cut strawberries were Hime-chan's idea." Yuzu smiled and behind her, Orihime heavily blushed.

"Oh, it was nothing…" Orihime then set down the plate of waffles that she had in her hand and then untied the apron that she had on.

"So, where's the old goat anyways?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, he actually went out for a run… it was quite weird seeing him with his jogging outfit." Yuzu scrunched up her nose in the memory and shook it off.

"Oh… And what about Karin? Where is she?"

"Oh, she went out pretty early for soccer practice, I think… No, I'm pretty sure." Yuzu then sat down in one of the chairs and served herself food. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and began to serve himself food as well. Orihime just seemed to stand there and Ichigo looked at her puzzlingly.

"Aren't you gonna eat, Orihime?" She suddenly blinked several times and nodded.

The three of them sat at the table, eating quietly. Yuzu was the first one to finish and asked Ichigo if he could just do the dishes. He nodded that it was fine and continued eating. Coincidently, both Ichigo and Orihime had finished eating at the same time and she took both of their plates and took them to the sink.

"So, are you going to do anything, Orihime?" Ichigo asked, as he began to wash the dishes.

"Uhm, no. That's kind of the reason why I came here to your house." Orihime just watched him wash the dishes and then looked down to the floor.

"Oh. So, did you have anything that you wanted to do, then?"

"Uhm, no. That's also the other reason why I came. I thought maybe you had something in mind." Orihime nervously laughed and began to scratch the back of her head. Ichigo chuckled and then dried his hands on the dish towel.

"I have an idea." Ichigo turned to Orihime with an evil glint in his eye.

***

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello?"

"Tatsuki-chan! Hi!"

"Orihime? Is everything okay? And… what number are you calling me on?"

Orihime laughed and then sot-of hesitated to answer. "Uhm, Ichigo's house phone…"

"Oh. Wait, why are you at his house?"

"Well, we had this idea that we wanted to do for you and Uryuu-san, too!"

"Uhm, okay. What is it?"

"Ichigo and I are going to make you guys a picnic!"

Tatsuki was silent on the other line and then laughed nervously, thinking about Orihime's food style. "Oh, no! You really, _really_, don't have to. Really."

"Aw! Please? Please, Tatsuki-chan?! Ichigo's going to help make the food, so you really don't have to worry!" Orihime practically begged on the phone.

"Fine, fine. You can do it."

"Yay! Don't worry about Uryuu-san. All you have to do is get pretty by six tonight. Oh, and to meet him at the park. At six. Tonight."

"Okay, I got it Orihime. And, thanks. To the both of you."

"Don't worry Tatsuki-chan! Everything is going to be fine." Orihime then hung up the phone and smiled.

"Well, she's going too!"

"Good. Did you get all of the stuff?" Ichigo asked. Orihime nodded. "Well, then. Let's get started." And with an evil smile plastered on both faces, they began to make their creations.

***

Tatsuki had arrived at the park five minutes to six and had seen the bench with the picnic basket and a red and white checkered tablecloth. _I guess that's for me and Uryuu…_ She began to walk towards the bench and at the same time saw him in the distance. She waved and he waved back. Uryuu walked up to her and handed her a dandelion.

"I just saw it on the way and thought that you might like it…"

Tatsuki blushed, not really used to the whole "boyfriend" thing. Even though she and Uryuu have been dating for a couple of months.

"Thanks… So, you want to start eating?" Uryuu nodded and they both sat down. He reached into the picnic basket and took out everything in there.

But really hoping it was a joke.

"Do you think… this is even _edible_?" Tatsuki commented. She began to pick at one of the plates which was a white glob of _something_ with specks of brown everywhere. She could've sworn it jiggled when she poked it.

"At least that looks better than _this_." He showed her a plate in which was dark brown and mushy with some dark green stuff inside.

"Well... maybe it doesn't taste as bad as it looks." Tatsuki added in. Uryuu looked incredulously at her. "What?!" He shook his head and began to pick at it. "Well, we won't know until we try…"

"Fine, then. I guess you're right…"

"Okay. So, on three we eat a little bit of it." He nodded. "One… two… three…" Neither of them had moved a muscle. "Oh, I can't do it! It looks too gross!"

"No, we should at least try it… They did put effort to making this for us…" Uryuu scrunched up his nose and his stomach knotted up.

"Fine… but you try it first." He gave her an exasperated look and Tatsuki rose up her hands. "Fine! We'll do it at the same time again. But we have to do it this time…" Uryuu nodded and she began to count. "One… Two…" They both gulped. "Three!" They both immediately dug their forks into their plates and put it into their mouth. They gave each other a look, made a sour-like face and spit it out onto the ground next to them. "Blech! That was way worse than I expected it to be!"

"I do _not_ want to know what's in that thing!"

The both of them then heard laughter behind a tree that was near them and they saw both Ichigo and Orihime come out from behind.

"You should've seen your faces!" Ichigo laughed out.

"That was much more fun than I expected!" Orihime was laughing so hard that she rolled over onto the grass.

"Wait, this was a set up! I'd expect this from you Ichigo, but Orihime?!"

When Tatsuki said that, Orihime had stopped laughing and looked up at her from the ground. "Tatsuki-chan… I didn't mean to hurt you. It was just a small prank is all… We made you guys another basket filled with goodies! To make up for what we did! Look!" Orihime then ran back behind the tree and came out with another picnic basket.

"Orihime. I'm not mad. Actually, I'd bet that was quite funny from your perspective… Sorry I lashed out like that. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"No, it's okay. Well, here's the real basket." Orihime handed her the picnic basket and stood beside Ichigo, who had taken her hand.

"You guys can throw all of that out. And no, you don't want to know what's in there." Ichigo smirked and they both walked away.

"Oh, look! They brought chocolate chip cookies!" Tatsuki yelled out.

In between from the morning and six, this young couple had planned to trick another couple.

"I'm happy you came back." Rukia snuggled closer to Renji and he slightly tightened his grasp on her. They were both just sitting in a small meadow near a river, watching the sun reflect on the water. The wind softly rustled the grass and the sun stood high above in the sky.

"Yeah, me too." Rukia looked up at him and Renji cupped her small face with his hand and kissed her. Rukia ended up leaning back onto the ground with Renji on top of her. His hand went under her pale blue dress and slowly began to go up her thighs…

"Say hi to Byakuya!"

Renji immediately threw himself off of Rukia, wide-eyed.

"What the-?! ICHIGO!"

"And YouTube!" Orihime yelled from behind of Ichigo who was holding a video recorder.

"No, you guys can keep going. But just imagine what Byakuya would say! I can imagine it now…" Ichigo then began to laugh and Orihime giggled behind him.

"Come here, you son of a bitch!" Renji stood up and ran after Ichigo.

"Renji!" Rukia yelled. She was beet red and didn't dare to look up at Orihime.

"Don't worry. There's actually no tape in there!" Orihime whispered to her. Rukia smiled up at her and shook her head in disbelief. "Well, I better go and find Ichigo." Orihime then jogged off in pursuit of her boyfriend. She found him hiding on the side of a house and had accidently scared him. "Ichigo! It's almost five forty-five! We have to set up the picnic for Tatsuki-chan and Uryuu-san!"

"Right. Lets' go." Ichigo grabbed her hand and they both ran back to his house.

***

Ichigo and Orihime were both on the couch with Orihime's legs spread out and on top of Ichigo's lap.

"That was fun." Orihime commented with a smile on her face. She then sat up so that her face was closer to Ichigo's. "Thank you." She leaned in for a kiss and Ichigo leaned in closer as to close the gap between their lips. Orihime pulled back and was about to lay back down, but Ichigo held her by her arm. She looked at him through her bangs and she was softly pulled back into him and was kissed once more.

Orihime slightly opened her mouth and Ichigo snuck his tongue inside. She softly tugged at the end of his shirt and he broke apart from her for a second and took it off. He went back to kissing her and she leaned back onto the couch. As he was on top of her, he began to kiss her bottom lip to her jaw and on to her neck. She softly moaned and her hands began to rise up slowly from his muscular chest to his neck. Ichigo's hands pried under her shirt and Orihime then grabbed his wrist and sat up.

"Orihime, I-,"

She then took off her shirt in front of him and Ichigo's eyes widened.

"Are you… sure?" He nervously asked, even though his voice was even. But his heart was racing, pounding even.

"Yeah… as long as Ichigo is ready too." She looked up at him with her big grey eyes and her now rosy cheeks.

He softly smiled and leaned into her again and softly kissed her, placing his right hand on her lower back. She wrapped her arms across his neck and his back was now leaning on the couch. Her legs were bent next to her and Ichigo had then stood up, having Orihime's legs wrapped around his waist. He carried her into her room and kicked the door close…

***

It was dark in Orihime's room and little light seeped through her curtains. She was softly mumbling to herself the words of a song and Ichigo smirked, knowing what song it was.

"Natasha Bedingfield, huh?"

Orihime giggled as well and continued to comb her fingers through his bright orange hair. "These words of my heart are my own, from my heart flow, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you…"

Ichigo closed his eyes, letting himself melt into her voice. Plus, the way her fingers were going through his hair made him feel sleepy…

"I love you, Ichigo Kurosaki." Orihime whispered and scooted closer into his body.

"And I love you, Orihime Inoue." He wrapped his arm around her and the both of them took comfort of each other's warmth and fell asleep.

***

Orihime happily woke up to the wonderful scent of food and sat up. She scratched her head and yawned, stretching her arms and back at the same time. Then realization had hit her.

_I can't believe it… I did _it_… Oh man, how am I going to tell Tatsuki-chan! _She decided to deal with that matter later on and grabbed her undergarments off the floor. She then searched her room for her pajamas, but couldn't find them anywhere. So, she decided to just cover herself with her blanket. Walking out of her room, she found Ichigo cooking some eggs and toast with butter. She sat down on a chair and watched him cook.

Ichigo turned around and saw Orihime covering herself with a blanket. "Good morning, sleepyhead." He gave her a kiss on her forehead and set a plate filled with food in front of her. She smiled up at him and then in awe at her plate.

"Wow! This looks really good, Ichigo!" She dropped her hold of her blanket and began to eat. Though, when she dropped her blanket, it had actually dropped down to her waist which had revealed her bra and _a lot_ of skin as well.

"Uhm, Orihime…"

To top it off, she accidently dropped a small piece of scrambled eggs into her cleavage.

"Oh, did you say something-? Oh my gosh! Ichigo? Are you okay? Your nose is bleeding!" She then stood up, leaving the blanket on the chair, and ran to the bathroom for tissue. She handed it to him and he took it, quickly pinching his nose. Ichigo was then led to the sofa as to lie down and Orihime sat at the edge, her hand on his chest. When she did this though, she had noticed that Ichigo wasn't wearing a shirt and he was only in his… _boxers!_ She began to heavily blush and made herself look away.

"Uhm, maybe you should go finish eating your food, Orihime. Don't worry about me. The bleeding should stop soon…" She smiled at him and nodded, heading back to the table and finish eating her own food. She purposely ate it very quick and went back to the couch. She sat at the edge of the couch once more and looked at him worriedly. "You worry too much, Orihime." Ichigo smirked and then sat back up. He made sure that his nose wasn't bleeding anymore. "See, I'm fine." She softly smiled to him and he gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "Get ready. We're gonna go somewhere."

"Okay." She then kissed him on the cheek and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Ichigo stayed sitting on the couch, massaging his forehead. _Damn, what did I get myself into last night?! __**Well, kingy, you put yourself into nothing! Don't worry about! You enjoyed it, she enjoyed it, heck, and even I enjoyed it! Stop thinking so deep into this. It's a natural thing!**__ No, it's not! __**Yeah it is! Kids your age are throwing themselves into this all the time.**__ Yeah, but Orihime and I AREN'T every other kid! Damn, she probably thinks I only wanted this… to have… to have… __**Damn you're a wuss. Can't even say, let alone think, of the word 'sex.' **__Shut up!__** You're only saying that 'cause it's true.**_ Ichigo stood up and decided to get ready as well. He quickly put on his own clothes and waited for Orihime to finish getting ready. She came out from the shower, having only a towel wrapped around her body.

"I'm almost done!" She yelled out.

"Take your time… It's fine…" Ichigo yelled back.

She came out of her bedroom ten minutes later with faded blue jeans and a dark blue button-up shirt. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her hairclips were clipped on the side of her hair.

"Okay! I'm ready." She smiled and Ichigo was somehow a bit shocked that she wasn't wearing a skirt. "I know I might look kind of weird, but I grabbed what I first saw." She nervously laughed and began to tug at the end of her shirt.

"N-no! It looks good on you actually. Let's go." He took her hand and they walked outside. Although, they were stopped when they heard someone call out for Orihime.

"Yoo-hoo! Orihime!" A young woman asked from her window.

"Oh, Morita-san! You're back from vacation?" Orihime asked.

"Yes, but only for a bit. I have to fly out again for a while… But I was meaning to ask, is everything alright? I heard quite a lot of noise last night!"

Orihime's face reddened and she began to flail her arms in front of her. "Y-yeah! Everything's fine! It was just that… I fell down a couple of times! My room is so messy; I should clean it up when I get back! Thank you for your concern though. I'll see you later on, Morita-san!" Morita nodded and waved good-bye and closed her window. Orihime sighed in relief and began to laugh out of nervousness once again. "I guess we should keep going, right Ichigo?" She looked up at him and gave him the best smile as she could give.

"Y-yeah. We should. Let's go." Ichigo grabbed her hand and they continued to walk forward.

"You wouldn't mind if we quickly went to my house, do you? I just want to take a quick shower and change out of my clothes."

"No! It's perfectly fine." The rest of the walk was in silence, a couple of words exchanged every now and then, but quiet nonetheless.

Once they reached the Kurosaki residence, Orihime went straight to the living room and waited there as Ichigo ran upstairs as to take a shower. He had accidently bumped into his father and he immediately tried to explain. "Dad, about last night, see I kinda had to-,"

"Be careful, Ichigo. And I'm serious. I see how it is between the both of you. Don't make any stupid mistakes." At that, Isshin had walked away from his son and Ichigo heard him say a happy hello to Orihime downstairs.

Ichigo had never heard his father so stern and tell him something so… father-like. It kind of shocked him and he thought that maybe he could consult his father about last night, but shook the thought away. This was his _father_ that we were talking about. The man who still says things to a damn poster. Ichigo deeply sighed to himself and walked into his bathroom as to take a shower.

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He-he. Please review and vote on my poll! Would really appreciate it. Oh, and if you have any great ideas, or any idea in fact, share them with me! I'd love to read them, and could possibly write it down. Thanks! :D

**Next Chapter:** How will everyone react when they find out that Orihime and Ichigo have done you-know-what?! We'll have to wait and see until the next chapter!


	12. No Games

Okay! A lot of a shorter chapter, this is only a little more than half of 3000 words. I really couldn't think of anything else. Anyways, some people in the last chapter may have been confused as to what Isshin had said. It seemed to seem as if he was telling Ichigo to not have sex AT ALL but in the… 3rd chapter I think, I wrote that he had encouraged him to do so. I meant as for Ichigo to not mistakes _after_. Anyways, I hope it clears up in this chapter. Enjoy!

One-shot story: I don't know when it'll be posted up and I thought this chapter would've been posted up with it, but hey. I got inspired. It's about ¾ done, so it shall be posted around sometime next week, hopefully.

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Disclaimer:

I don't own Bleach.

Orihime was running around her house, fixing little things in her house. She straightened what appeared to be crooked pictures, dusting everything (this was the third time) and she had prepared all of Tatsuki favorites. She even went out and bought her favorite candy. Orihime had invited her martial arts best friend as to tell her what had happened. She couldn't keep it to herself any longer… even though it was just the day before. But it felt like forever ago to her.

_How am I going to tell her? 'Here's a cookie Tatsuki-chan! By the way, I had sex with Ichigo last night!' And then she chokes and dies… Aw, man!_

Orihime's doorbell rang at that exact same moment and she jumped at the sudden sound. Running towards the door, she swung it open and there stood her best friend.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime smiled widely, but she felt herself breaking down inside.

"Wow, you opened the door quickly Orihime." Tatsuki commented with a small smile. They both gave each other a hug and Tatsuki walked into Orihime's house. "Wow. Something smells really good! Is that… Orihime, are you making apple pie?!" Tatsuki looked at the auburn girl incredulously and Orihime nodded.

"I just felt like doing something for you." _In order to make up what I did._ Orihime continued in her head. "It's going to be done in like ten minutes." Tatsuki nodded and sat herself down on the couch.

"So, what's up? You sounded kinda frantic on the phone, Orihime."

"Really? I did? Well, I didn't mean to! There's really… I mean, there might be, but it's really… Uhm…" Orihime had tried to choose her words carefully so that she wouldn't lie to her best friend, but she couldn't find them.

"Orihime? What happened? Is everything okay?" Tatsuki asked worriedly.

A beeping sound was heard and Orihime jumped up from the couch. "The pie's done!" She jogged towards her kitchen and put on oven mitts, carefully taking out the apple pie from the oven. The apple aroma surrounded her and her stomach growled in response. Setting it on a cooling rack, she walked back to the living room. "I'm just letting the pie cool down now." Orihime sat back down and tugged at the end of her shirt.

"Orihime, c'mon. Tell me. What's going-?"

Tatsuki was interrupted by Orihime's house phone ringing and Orihime quickly grabbed it. "Hello? Oh, you're here! Great! Thank you!" She hung up the phone and beamingly smiled at her best friend. "The sweets are here." Orihime jogged towards the front door and a delivery man stood there with a big brown bag filled with bread and cookies. "Thank you. Bye!" The man smiled at Orihime and walked away and she shut the door close. Orihime placed the bag on top of her kitchen table and took out a warm chocolate chip cookie for herself and Tatsuki. She grabbed two cups and poured milk. Carrying everything back to the living room, Tatsuki's eyes widened.

"You made me an apple pie and you had a delivery guy come here to bring all of my favorite sweets… Orihime, what'd you do?!" Orihime nervously laughed and placed her right hand on the back of her head.

***

Ichigo had slashed down Zangetsu upon a hollow that looked like a scorpion. The hollow had quickly disintegrated from the fatal blow and Ichigo sighed loudly. He shunpo'd back to his room, entering through his window and he almost yelled out loud from seeing who was in his room.

"R-Renji?! What in the hell are you doing in my room?!"

"Oh, 'sup Ichigo. Rukia told me to get something for her." Renji turned back around, opening the closet door and he then lashed his head back. "Wait a minute! There's something different about you…" He walked closely to Ichigo, so close that their noses were practically touching each other.

"W-what do you mean?" Ichigo's heart began to beat loudly and he could hear it pumping even with his own ears.

"Holy-! Orihime's turned you into a man!" Renji took a couple of steps back and pointed a shaking finger at him.

"WHAT?!"

Renji had become to chuckle and it turned into a loud laugh. "Oh man! I can't wait to tell Rukia! Ha-ha!" Renji walked past a very red Ichigo and he jumped out the window.

***

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Tatsuki yelled, wide-eyed.

"Uhm… well… I, uhm, had sex with Ichigo…" Orihime softly replied.

The information somehow couldn't get into Tatsuki's brain so she asked once more. "You and Ichigo… had sex with each other…"

Orihime sighed and nodded. Tatsuki blinked a couple of times and then leaned back onto the couch. At that same moment, there was knocking on the door. Orihime looked back, confused as to who it may be. She walked towards the front door and opened it. There stood Rukia and Renji, both with smirks on their faces.

"Rukia! Renji! What're you guys doing here?" Orihime asked. She felt slightly saved by them from going any further upon the topic with Tatsuki, who was still wide-eyed on the couch.

"Oh, nothing. Just came to say hi." Rukia smiled and seemed to be craning her head right to left as to look in Orihime's house.

"Uh, is everything okay Rukia?" Orihime asked, confused as to what her friend might be doing.

"Ichigo isn't here, is he?" Rukia asked cautiously. Orihime laughed and shook her head no. Rukia sighed in relief. "We have to talk to you Orihime." Rukia entered herself into Orihime's house with Renji following her right behind.

"Okay… What is it?" Orihime closed the door, her back towards everyone.

"It's about you having sex with Ichigo."

Orihime's eyes widened and she couldn't move. She slowly turned her head towards them, her face flushed. "W-what?!"

"Don't worry, we're not angry. Just surprised." Rukia continued, smiling at Orihime.

"Really surprised, to be honest. I never thought Ichigo had the man in him to actually do it." Renji commented. Rukia smack him lightly on the arm and said something to him that Orihime couldn't hear. Renji muttered a soft sorry to her and they both looked back at Orihime.

"Its okay, Orihime. It's nothing to be ashamed about or anything. In fact, when Renji and I had first-,"

"RUKIA!" Renji yelled, stopping her immediately.

"Oh, right. He-he. Scratch that. Uhm… yeah, we're going to go now." Rukia smiled nervously and quickly walked to the door. "See you around, Orihime!" The odd couple then left her house and Orihime gaped at them. She then shook her head, trying to forget what had just happened and walked back to where Tatsuki was sitting.

She had calmed down, Orihime could see. Her eyes were back to their normal size, as was her breathing back to normal.

"What Rukia said kind of hit me. It's really something not to be ashamed of, Orihime. Just making sure, you guys did use protection right?"

Orihime's eyes widened as the realization hit her that they didn't.

***

Ichigo yawned as he was watching television on his couch. He was pretty bored and he had called Orihime earlier that day, but she said that she was spending the day with Tatsuki. He was slightly disappointed, but didn't say anything. After all, her life doesn't revolve around him. Sighing, he got up and walked towards the fridge, looking if there was anything he could eat. Yuzu had gone out with some of her friends and told everyone that she wouldn't be able to make dinner. _Damn she's growing up…_ He thought to himself. Taking out a bowl of noodles, Ichigo placed it into his microwave and turned around. He suddenly felt a force hit his face and he angrily looked up in front of him.

"Why you-!" Ichigo yelled to his father.

"You had your guard down! Someone could've killed you within the minute that you were warming up your noodles!" Isshin yelled, shaking a finger at him.

"Of course I had my guard down! I'm home for heaven's sake!" Ichigo yelled back.

"The enemy is everywhere Ichigo!"

"Yeah! And apparently so are you!" Ichigo yelled back, walking past him.

"Ichigo." His father had the same serious tone as he had the day before and Ichigo turned towards him. "There are things out there that can't be beaten by physical force. Make sure you remember that." Isshin was about to walk away when his son had spoken to him.

"Dad… about what you said yesterday…" Ichigo wanted to so badly to tell him for some reason, but the words couldn't come out of his mouth.

"Look, son." Isshin placed a hand on his shoulder and continued. "You can have fun and all, but if it's the _wrong_ fun, prepare yourself for the consequence. But if its sex, where it can be right and wrong, depending on the situation, just make sure you're ready. And well prepared also for the after math. Trust me. Be well prepared." Somehow, his own father, the man who attacks him every morning and still talks to a poster, had managed to answer his question without having to say his own problem.

"Yeah. Thanks, dad." Isshin patted him on the shoulder and walked away. Although, the bell had rang and Isshin opened the door.

"Ah! Orihime-chan! What brings a lovely lady such as yourself to this manly home?"

"Hi, Mister Kurosaki! Uhm, can I just speak to Ichigo for a second?" Orihime fiddled with her fingers behind her back and bit her lip at the same time.

"Of course! You can take him for the night, if you want." Isshin winked at her and Orihime softly laughed.

Ichigo walked to the door and Isshin headed upstairs, but then stopped when he heard what Orihime had said to him.

"Ichigo… I think we might have a problem." She said, looking up at him through her bangs.

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Review please!

**Next Chapter:** What is this problem that Ichigo and Orihime might have? Is Orihime really…? I've written too much… What do you think? xD


	13. Hear Me Say

Okay, here I go. I AM SORRY. I AM SORRY. I AM SORRY. I AM SORRY. I AM SORRY. I AM SORRY. TIMES INFINITY. I know this chapter took soooo long, and I am deeply sorry. I got caught up with life and I so wanted to write, but never had the time lately. So, please accept this apology. Oh, and I believe the next chapter will be the last one. Don't worry! I'll make it really long so that you guys can savor it! He-he. Anywho, the whole time concept is all over the place, so please just go with the flow. I will continue writing drabbles and hopefully I will update that as well. I should have the time hopefully, but I have to bake a class set of brownies, and I wanted to post this chapter up before I did anything. So, please enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, but I am crazy about it. :)

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"I'm sorry Ichigo…" Orihime mumbled.

They were sitting on a park bench, mostly alone with the exception of people walking by every other minute. Ichigo had placed his elbow upon his knees and covered his face with his hands. He picked up his head and looked a bit angry.

"Sorry? For what? Hell, I should be the one saying sorry!" Ichigo slumped back onto the bench and breathed out heavily.

"Well, I'm not sure yet… I just wanted to let you know if it ends up that I am… pregnant…" Orihime trailed off and began to bite her bottom lip out of habit. She tried to keep her tears in and so far she's been doing fine. _I really am just a burden to him…_ At that thought, a tear trailed down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away, hoping that Ichigo didn't see.

"Orihime…?" He looked at her and when she looked up at him, there was such sadness and worry in her eyes. He then hugged her tightly and she jumped at the sudden gesture but returned the hug. And that was when she broke down.

"I'm so scared, Ichigo… I'm scared…" Orihime cried between her sobs.

"I am too, Orihime… but we'll get through this. Together."

She then buried her face into his shoulder and tried to stop herself from crying as to not ruin his shirt. They stayed in that position for a while and Orihime finally pulled back, wiping away the remains of her tears. Ichigo somberly looked at her and cupped her face, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Let's go, okay?" Orihime nodded and they both stood up, walking away from the park hand-in-hand.

The sun was just setting and Ichigo decided to drop Orihime off at her house. Neither of them said a word, both afraid they might say something wrong. Ichigo would lightly stroke Orihime's hand with his thumb every now and then and Orihime would sometimes lay her head upon his shoulder from time to time. Too soon, they arrived at Orihime's house and she looked at him, as if asking if he were to come in. In response to the unasked question, he placed a small kiss upon her forehead as a goodbye and Orihime smiled softly up at him. No words were exchanged, for there was no need. Ichigo let go of her and watched her go inside her house. She turned to him once she opened her front door and waved. He waved back and began to walk away.

Ichigo began to kick a small pebble around on the sidewalk and had a slight heavy feeling in his heart. Sure he told his girlfriend that everything would be fine, and he did truly believe that. In the moment. Now that he was alone, he began to truly wonder, would everything be okay? He doesn't have the money to support a child! But he could begin working… but it would definitely interfere along with his shinigami work. There's practically no way he could juggle school, work, killing hollows, his girlfriend AND a kid.

"Shit…"

Orihime shut the door behind her and immediately slid down to the floor. She couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears fell down her cheeks and sobs escaped her mouth.

"Why? Why? WHY?" She began to lightly bang her head against the door, hitting it a bit harder each time. She abruptly stopped, the tears coming out on their own now. She looked to the side and murmured to herself, "Why am I so stupid?" The silence mocked her, giving no response.

"You're not stupid, Orihime."

Orihime's head snapped up and her eyes widened at the sudden visitor.

Ichigo stared at the food in front of him, rolling his peas around with his fork.

"Ichi-nii, are you okay? You haven't touched your food!"

"Uh, not that hungry tonight, Yuzu. Sorry." Ichigo stood up and left the table. Three pairs of eyes followed him as he walked up the stairs.

"He's been saying that a lot. I think something's wrong." Yuzu commented.

"I'll go see what's wrong with him! He'll tell his wonderful father!" Isshin stood up and quickly ran out of his seat, but didn't see a foot popping out from the table, causing him to trip.

"Karin-chan!"

"Leave him alone. That's why he left anyways, to be alone. Plus who would want to talk to a 40 year old that acts like a 3 year old?" Karin muttered.

"You're so mean to your daddy." Isshin made the puppy dog eyes and fake tears were on the edge of his eyes. They suddenly heard a door shut above them and the three of them were all thinking the same thing: What could be bothering Ichigo?

Ichigo walked to his bed and lay down.

"ICHIGGOOOOO! You're back! You're back!" Kon jumped his plushy self on Ichigo's chest, tears streaking out from his eyes. "I'll never run away again! I promise you!"

"Oh… okay." Ichigo replied.

"I'm gone for a day and all you say is 'Oh… okay'! Fine then! I am deserving of more love than you give me! Hmph. Take that big guy!" Kon punched Ichigo and looked up at him, as to see the effect. Instead he saw that he didn't hurt him at all.

Ichigo stared at his ceiling, barely paying attention to this small lion. His mind was occupied with other matters. Not that Kon knew of any of it.

Orihime was about to start bawling a new cycle of tears from seeing the person in front of her.

"Oh, Orihime. Don't you dare think you're stupid. Trust me; a girl like you is definitely not stupid. Now come here and give me a hug." Rangiku walked up to her and kneeled down onto the floor, hugging the fragile healer.

"Rangiku…san?" Orihime squeaked out loud. She then hugged her back and began to softly cry. They broke apart and Orihime was still crying. Suddenly, Rangiku attacked Orihime, tickling her with quite speed.

"AH! RANGIKU-SAN! AHAHA! STOP! AHAHA! MY RIBS HURT! AHAHA! RANGIKU-SAN!" Orihime was rolling on the floor by now, tears of laughter coming out from her eyes instead. The blonde shinigami was on top of Orihime, looking at her with care.

"Don't cry, Orihime. Everything happens for a reason and soon everything will fall into place. Just wait and see." She slightly smiled down at Orihime and Orihime smiled back up at her.

"Thank you, Rangiku-san."

They both sat up and Rangiku asked Orihime if she still had those chocolate-covered squids of hers. Orihime nodded then piped in that it tasted wonderful as topping for vanilla ice cream.

"Neh, Rangiku-san, why are you here?" Orihime asked, then putting in her mouth another spoonful of vanilla ice cream with chocolate-covered squids.

"Oh, captain and I are filling in for Renji and Rukia. They're quite… busy in Soul Society." She slightly chuckled and put in another spoonful of the dessert.

"Oh… okay. Are you sleeping here then?" Rangiku nodded and Orihime beamed. "You can sleep in the same room as you did before then. Where is Toushiro-san anyways?"

Rangiku smiled and then stood up, heading to the front door. She opened it and yelled as loud as she could, "Are you going to come in captain? We can have a slumber party!"

"No! I'd rather stay out here, thank you very much!" A male voice was heard from on top of Orihime's roof.

"Aw, c'mon captain! We can all take a shower together!" Rangiku called out enthusiastically.

"I said no!"

The subordinate shrugged her shoulders and walked back into the apartment, closing the door behind her. "Oh, he's being modest as always." Orihime laughed and knew that in the middle of the night he'd enter through the window and sleep in the room.

Orihime lay in bed, unable to sleep. Her stomach had been hurting her a lot all night. On top of that, it was a humid night and it made her uncomfortable. She decided to go to the bathroom and check to see if maybe she just has to use it and that's why her stomach has been hurting. She tip-toed to the bathroom, not wanting to disturb her guests and turned on the light. She pulled down her shorts and her eyes widened. She then screamed, waking up her whole apartment. She burst open the door (with her shorts back on) and a very shocked and guarded Rangiku and Toushiro appeared at the doorway.

"Is everything okay Orihime? Are you hurt?" Toushiro asked.

"I have my period!" Orihime hugged Rangiku tightly and Toushiro looked up at his subordinate in slight anger and confusion and shrugged it off. He never understood females anyways.

Orihime sat in bed, having her light on (and yes, she changed into clean shorts and underwear), staring into the screen of her cell phone. She pressed the number one and clicked dial. It rang once… twice…

"Hello?" A groggy Ichigo was on the other line.

"Uh, I'm sorry Ichigo I called you so late, but I think you may want to know this."

"Orihime? Is everything okay? You're not hurt are you?"

She laughed and replied with a no. "I'm not pregnant."

"…"

"…Ichigo?"

"You know for sure?"

"Yeah. I got my… uhm… period." It seemed quite awkward to mention her monthly thing to her boyfriend.

"Oh… Wow. You're not pregnant." She heard him sigh on the other line and began to worry.

"Is everything okay, Ichigo? Are you… mad?"

"What? No, everything is fine. I'm not mad. Don't worry. I'm… okay. I mean like, I would love to have a child with you Orihime, I can't think of anyone else who'd rather be the mother of my kids, but we're so young. So, I don't want to say I'm happy and I'm not sad or mad either. I'm… okay."

"Oh. Okay." Orihime blushed at the comment that Ichigo said about wanting to still have kids with her in the future.

"So, is that all?"

"Mhm. Thank you, Ichigo."

"For what?"

"For still being here for me. And picking up the phone at 3 in the morning." Orihime softly laughed and smiled to herself.

Ichigo chuckled. "Of course, Orihime. I would love to hear your voice anytime of the day and night. And I thought you already knew. I'm not leaving you for _anything_."

"I know… Well, I'll let you go to sleep now. After all, tomorrow is a new year."

"I know." Orihime could already imagine him scowling on the other line and her heart warmed.

"Goodnight, Ichigo."

"'Night, Orihime."

They both hung up and even though these two lovers were miles apart, they each were thinking the same thing:

_I love you._

Orihime squinted through the harsh sunlight seeping into her room and slowly sat up from her bed. Sighing to herself, she got out of bed and walked out from her bedroom door. She headed towards the room where Rangiku and Toushiro were supposedly sleeping, but found the door slightly ajar and saw that they weren't there. In fact, the room looked just as it did before. She felt slightly saddened that they didn't say goodbye, but then a paper caught the corner of her eye. It read:

_Dear Orihime,_

_Thank you for letting us stay in your house once again. We had to leave urgently, but don't worry, Rukia and Renji are back from Soul Society. We would have said goodbye, but you were sleeping so soundly that we didn't want to wake you up. Hope to see you soon!_

_Love,_

_Captain Toushiro and Rangiku_

Orihime placed the paper on the small table next to her and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she was already 10 minutes late from her shower. Running to the bathroom, she immediately turned on the water and flung her pajamas off of her body.

Ichigo jolted up once he heard his alarm clock beeping for him to wake up. He quickly ran his hand over his alarm clock and seemed to press multiple of buttons before pressing the right one to shut off his alarm. Suddenly, he heard a slight screeching sound coming from his closet door and saw that it was in fact opening by itself. Eyes widening, he began to get into fighting stance.

"Mm, morning Ichigo." Rukia stepped out of the closet and began to stretch.

"Morning Ru-," Ichigo stopped mid-sentence when he saw who else was coming out of the closet.

"Sup, Ichigo." Renji mumbled.

"How in the-? When did you-? You better not have-!" Ichigo was pointing at the both of them, his mouth hanging wide-open. He took a deep breath and began to rub his eyes. Blinking a couple of times, he finally turned his gaze over back to Rukia and Renji and sighed. "You guys better not have dirtied my closet, if you know what I mean."

"Don't worry, your closet is fine. We didn't do anything." Rukia replied.

"Plus if we were doing something, you'd hear it." Renji added on. Rukia snapped her head to his direction, wide-eyed.

"You didn't have to tell me that!" Ichigo began to massage his forehead and stood up. "I have to get ready for school. Are you coming today, Rukia?" She nodded her head and Ichigo walked out from his room, heading towards the bathroom.

_Why can't any of my mornings be __**normal**__?_

Orihime walked into her new homeroom, breathing in the school air. It smelled of books, pencils and… perfume? Curiously turning her head, she saw a familiar someone and her eyes slightly widened. Not because of whom it was but of how close she was.

"Oh, Orihime~!" Chizuru whispered in her ear.

"H-hi, Chizuru-chan," Orihime blushed and attempted to step forward, but was suddenly held back by surprisingly strong arms.

"Oh, how I've missed my beautiful, amazing, adorable, fantastic-,"

Orihime suddenly felt a cold wind pass behind her and then suddenly heard a loud thump to her left. Worried, she looked down to her left and saw Chizuru one the floor, her arms wrapped around her stomach.

"Oh, shut up you airhead." Tatsuki commented, not even looking at her.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime ran to her best friend and gave her a big hug.

Tatsuki laughed softly and returned the hug and then stepped back. "Wow, Orihime. Such a strong hug; we just saw each other yesterday, you know."

"I know, but I've missed you so much in between those 24 hours!" Orihime beamed to her best friend, with her eyes closed, and she suddenly felt like someone was holding her hand. Opening her eyes, she saw that Tatsuki had gotten closer to her. "What is it, Tatsuki-chan?"

"Uhm…" The martial arts champ looked around the room and made sure that no one was listening in and continued. "Do you know if you really are… you know…?" She made a round belly motion on her stomach quickly and then crossed her arms.

"Oh, if I'm pregnant? No, I'm not! See, what happened was that I felt really crabby last night and my stomach started to hurt a lot. So, I went to the bathroom to see if, you know I had to use it or anything, and boom! There was blood on my underwear! I was so happy." Orihime smiled, but then looked worried. "Tatsuki, why are you making that hand motion across your neck?" Orihime suddenly realized that the room was much quieter than it was when she began to talk to her best friend. Realizing that the class must've heard what she just said, she began to blush furiously. Quickly looking down to the floor and heading towards the door, she heard Tatsuki call after her, but paid no attention. She was about to leave the door when suddenly bumped into someone. The impact was so hard that she fell back on the ground.

"Orihime! What the-? Are you alright?" Ichigo outstretched his hand so that she could get up, but she got up on her own.

"Yeah! I'm totally fine! I just have to go use the restroom now." Orihime faked a smile, not wanting to ruin her boyfriend's day. She was lucky enough not to ruin his life. She began to run past him, but she was suddenly stopped by someone. She knew it was Ichigo, but she didn't want to look at him in the eyes, knowing that she would break down and tell him what had happened in the classroom. She didn't want to burden him with her minor problems.

"Orihime, c'mon. What's wrong?" Ichigo walked closer to her and began to pull her closer to him so that they were face to face.

Orihime opened her mouth to begin why she was upset, but then snapped her mouth shut. _I can't… I must not burden him…_ So, instead, she looked up at him, gave him a small, sweet smile and said, "It's nothing, Ichigo. Just my woman hormones raging I guess! He-he…"

"I'll ask Tatsuki if you don't tell what's really up, Orihime." Ichigo's scowl had gone deeper and he already felt like his day was horrible.

She winced at the slight threat and sighed. "The class kinda heard about my...or our… incident and how I found out that I wasn't… you know…" Orihime made a round belly motion on her stomach and then crossed her arms just like her own best friend.

"Oh. Well, let them hear whatever the hell they want. You shouldn't care about what those stupid airheads think anyways. You're better than them in every possible way, so don't worry okay?" He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and took her hand, the both of them heading back to the classroom.

Orihime still looked down to the floor; her cheeks slowly began to get pinker tint in them. Ichigo then lifted her face up towards him and gave her one of his genuine smiles, reserved only for her. She smiled back and felt like she could face the rest of the day, as long as she had him by her side. Ichigo softly squeezed her hand and the both of them walked towards Orihime's desk. Even though many pairs of eyes were following them, which they all felt, neither of them looked like it bothered them in the least. Soon, they both began their regular small talk, mostly consisting of Orihime's dreams, and suddenly they were interrupted by a small cough behind them. Both of them turning around, Orihime jumped out of her seat to hug her friend.

"Rukia! You're back!"

"Y-yeah, Orihime." Rukia smiled and decided to just give a hug back as well. Honestly, this girl was irresistible. After Orihime stood back from the raven-haired girl, Rukia continued. "I would like you guys to come to Soul Society for a wedding."

"Oh, a wedding!" Orihime already began to imagine herself in a beautiful dress, and then seeing Ichigo in a tuxedo… They would dance all night and when they would be leaving, they would share a passionate kiss. But then the ninjas would come and attack them! They were in alliance with the aliens the whole time! "Hit those bad ninjas, Ichigo!" Orihime yelled out loud.

"What ninjas…?" Ichigo asked, a cold sweat coming down from his forehead.

"Huh? Did you say something, Ichigo?" Orihime asked, turning her head towards him.

"No, nothing at all Orihime… Anyways, whose wedding is it going to be 'cause I don't wanna go to some strangers wedding."

"Oh, trust me it's not a strangers wedding. It's Renji's and my wedding." Rukia smiled and Orihime gasped in happiness and Ichigo's eyes widened only slightly then went back to normal.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you guys Rukia! I knew it, I just knew it! Ooh, we have to pick out a beautiful wedding dress, and also the flowers. Then, you have to pick a theme on your reception. And-,"

"Uhm, I'm sorry Orihime, but this is going to be a traditional Soul Society wedding. I would love to do everything as you said, but you know…"

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! I'm sure it's still going to be great." Orihime smiled to her short friend and Rukia smiled back.

As Ichigo heard his girlfriend and his friend talk with one another, he couldn't help but to think that he was quite happy that his mornings weren't always so normal. Ichigo glanced at Orihime and watched her flail her arms, he began to chuckle to himself. For the best part of his abnormal morning was always her.

* * *

Ah, so she's not pregnant. I know some of you guys were kind of hyped that she might be, but then another half said that she's too young and maybe it should rather be a lesson. So I made it a lesson for her. But don't worry! Our Hime will have beautiful babies with her Ichigo. :D

**Next and last chapter:** Ten years later… That's all I'm going to say. XD

Review please!


	14. Love Remains the Same

Here it is! Oh man. I'm sorry it took this long, but hey,it's here. Thanks to everyone who had favorited, reviewed, or what ever with this story, I wouldn't have kept writing with out my readers. :) And so the last chapter is here. May you enjoy it, and once again, please review, for the last time. For this story, at least.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, but my imagination thinks I do. xD

* * *

Orihime quickly opened her front door, anxious to see Ichigo and tell him the news.

"Ichigo?" She called out within the house. No answer. Glancing at her watch, she couldn't help but to think that he should be home at this time. _Maybe he's upstairs._ Quickly jogging up the stairs, she entered within the master bedroom, glancing around to see that it was in fact empty. Suddenly filled with sadness, Orihime sat down at the edge of her bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the picture of their wedding day. Smiling softly to herself, she took the picture off from the night table, reminiscing that amazing day…

**Five Years Ago**

Orihime twirled in front of the mirror, her long white wedding dress sweeping across the marble floor of the bedroom of her soon-to-be father-in-law. Both Ichigo and Orihime had decided to have a backyard wedding, and then chose Ichigo's backyard as the perfect location. She grinned to herself in the mirror and smoothed out the dress. Someone knocked at the door at that moment and in came Tatsuki.

"Oh, wow. You look amazing, Orihime!"

"Oh, thanks Tatsuki-chan. Wow. I'm getting married today." It was quiet for a bit between the two friends and they hugged each other tightly.

"We're still going to be close, no matter what." They pulled away from each other as Orihime nodded her head and they then hugged once more. They both heard the door open behind them and in came Rukia.

"Hey, both of you ready? Tatsuki, we have to go down now." Tatsuki nodded and smiled to Orihime.

"Break a leg out there." Orihime laughed at her comment and blinked back tears.

"You look beautiful, Orihime." Rukia gave the soon-to-be bride a small smile and walked down to the backyard with Tatsuki following.

Orihime glanced at herself in the mirror once more and she faintly heard music rising. Quickly walking to the window, she looked down to the backyard and saw bouquets of lilies and hibiscus flowers. Her eyes averted to the podium and standing next to it was her love and soon-to-be husband: Ichigo. She blushed at the thought of thinking how handsome he looked in his tuxedo. She watched as her bridesmaids walked down the aisle, Rukia being the first with Renji next to her with Tatsuki following behind with Ishida next to her and Rangiku as last with no one next to her. She begged for Orihime to not have her walk down an aisle with a man, saying that she's independent and doesn't need a man to help her walk down the aisle. They each were also the Maids of Honor since Orihime just couldn't choose between the three of them. They were all wearing light blue strapless dresses that ended just above their knees, flaring out slightly at the bottom. Orihime then realized that she was supposed to be down there at that second and she ran down, almost tripping on her feet. She successfully got to the French doors that led to backyard without falling or tripping, especially with the heels she was wearing. Isshin stepped out from the side of the door, extending his elbow. Everyone stood up from their seats, all eyes on her. Orihime laid her hand on Isshin's elbow and the both of them walked down the aisle to the wedding music.

_Right foot, left foot. Right foot, left foot._ Orihime tried to concentrate on her footing, but suddenly she looked at Ichigo, who was smiling at her and she lost her footing and suddenly tripped on the edge of her dress. Thankfully Isshin quickly caught her and she regained her balance. Her heart beating wildly, they reached the podium and the wedding ceremony began.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are all gathered here today for a special event…"

"You look beautiful, Orihime." Ichigo whispered and Orihime grinned, not knowing what to say.

They said their wedding vows, Ichigo going first.

"My life was chaotic; there was no doubt about that. Then I met you. I'm not saying that you're not chaotic, especially the food that you enjoy." The guests laughed and Orihime giggled. "But as chaotic as you were, you were the only person that could make me smile in this mad world. I never thought I would've fallen in love with you, but I'm glad I did, for there is no other woman more perfect for me than you." At this point, Ichigo was red and all the girls, especially Rukia, had replied with an 'Aww.'

Orihime stared into the brown eyes that she fell in love with and spoke. "We were always just friends throughout high school. And I was okay with that… for a while. I never thought that you would ever see me differently other than a friend. But then you came to my house and surprisingly gave me that unexpected kiss."

"Yeah, Ichigo!" Renji yelled in the background and Orihime laughed as she watched Rukia punch him on the arm so that he would shut up. Ichigo only glared at him from where he was standing, he'll get him later.

"You were there for me no matter what was happening. You loved me for me and did everything in your power to make me happy and safe. You protected me, saved me, loved me, there's nothing more that can I ever ask of you. I never thought that we would've gotten married to each other when we became friends, but here we are. Getting married. And it's one of the countless best days of my life with you, and there will definitely be more in the future." The room was quiet, not of awkwardness, but a raw emotion that can only be formed by people who are truly in love.

The reception was incredible. The newly married couple danced all night with their friends and family and at the end, they drove off to the airport to their honeymoon destination: Paris.

**Present Time**

"Orihime?" Her head snapped up at the sound of her husband's voice. "Everything okay?" She nodded and placed the picture back on the night table.

"Okaa-san! Okaa-san! Look!" A little boy with bright orange hair and a radiant smile came running into the room, a paper at hand.

Orihime softly laughing, she hugged her jumping son and smiled down at him. "What is it, Akira?"

"I got an A on my spelling test!" He shoved the paper in front of her face and Orihime took the paper, smiling widely.

Within the background, a little girl's voice was heard. "Onii-san!" Ichigo left the room and came back in a minute later, carrying his 2 year old daughter.

"Well, this deserves to be on the refrigerator!" Orihime exclaimed, standing up and quickly kissing her daughter's head then heading towards the kitchen.

Akira gasped and looked up at Ichigo and his younger sister. "I'm gonna be on the refrigerator, Otou-san!" He then bolted out of the room, following in pursuit of his mom.

Ichigo laughed and decided to head downstairs as well. He set his daughter down and she immediately ran. They were all in the kitchen now, watching Orihime place the test on the refrigerator. Orihime stepped back smiling and turned towards her family. "So, who's hungry?"

"Oh, you really don't have to cook Orihime…"

"You must be tired, Okaa-san! We can order take-out…"

Both father and son began to make excuses so that Orihime wouldn't have to cook. Only one small girl raised her small hand and said only one word.

"Me."

Orihime bent down and smiled at her daughter, looking into her brown eyes, just like her father's. "At least Kohana doesn't mind my cooking." Orihime tickled her stomach for a second and Kohana began to giggle, wrapping her arms around her stomach at the same time.

Orihime opened the refrigerator and heard her children run out of the kitchen, heading towards the living room. She suddenly felt arms wrapping around her waist behind her and began to smile.

"So, did everything go okay at the doctor's office today?" Ichigo asked softly.

Orihime nodded, closing the fridge behind her without taking anything out. "In fact, Ichigo… I have to tell you something." Once she said that, Ichigo's eyes immediately widened and he grabbed her hand.

"You're okay, aren't you?"

"I told you, I'm fine. Ichigo, calm down. You honestly don't have to worry… I mean like, we've been through this twice before." At that said, Orihime grinned, hoping he would get what she was saying.

"What do you mean twice before…?"

_Wow, he hasn't figured it out…_ "Um, well… Ichigo…" At that exact moment their doorbell rang and Orihime sighed, heading towards the front door.

Though the people behind the door were the last people that she expected to see today.

"Hey, Orihime!" Rukia beamed, hugging her. "Wait a minute… There's something different here…" Rukia stepped back and began to analyze her and her eyes widened a second later. "Oh my gosh! Orihime! Congrats!"

"Congrats on what?" Renji and Ichigo asked at the same time. They both realized this and just nodded to each other as their hello.

"Orihime… You did tell Ichigo, right…?"

"Hehehe, I was about to, but then you guys rang the doorbell and well… I gave him a hint!" Orihime whispered quickly to her best friend.

"Well… you know him… he's not as smart as you." Rukia whispered quickly back and Orihime softly laughed.

"Oi, what are you saying to my wife?" Ichigo yelled from behind them.

"Oh, it's nothing, Ichigo. Calm down." Orihime gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned back to Rukia. "Where are your kids?"

"Oh, we left them in Soul Society with Ukitake." Both couples headed to the kitchen to catch up some more.

"Hey, be careful of the vase in the living room!" Ukitake yelled, trying to change the diaper of a one year old. In the background was a loud crash from the living room. "I'm being paid way too little for this…" He muttered to himself.

Laughter was heard throughout the room as Renji and Rukia were retelling a story about their seven year-old twins following each other in everything they do.

"I swear, when they grow up, they're going to have identical houses and maybe even kids!" Rukia exclaimed and another burst of laughter was heard.

"Well, we must be going. We can't stay here for long." Renji and Rukia stood up and replied their farewells.

"Good luck, Orihime, on telling your husband the news." Rukia whispered as they were hugging. Orihime softly laughed and watched as Ichigo and Renji gave each other the "man" handshake. This only contained a normal handshake, but they both squeezed each other's hands as hard as they could and try not to show any type of pain. Renji's eye slightly twitched and Ichigo smirked. The couple left the house then and Orihime turned to Ichigo.

"Ichigo, I'm -,"

"AAGHH!" Both parents looked upstairs worriedly. That was Akira's scream, and he rarely screams. They both ran upstairs as fast as they could, Ichigo being ahead in case there was anyone he had to fight.

"Akira!" Orihime yelled as they reached his bedroom. Orihime's eyes widened as she saw what was before her.

"Holy-," Ichigo quickly reached within his pocket for his Shinigami badge. He instantly transformed into his Shinigami form and headed straight to the snake-like hollow before him. "Get away from my son!" He slightly cut the head of the hollow and it roared, hurting the ears of anyone near it. In the background, Kohana began to cry and Orihime headed to her son and had him run out of the room.

"Otou…san?" His eyes went back and forth between his father's still body that lay on the ground and to his father in his Shinigami form. Orihime picked him up and she ran to her daughter's room. "Okaa-san, why is Otou-san fighting that monster thing? And why is his body on the ground? Why is he wearing those clothes? Where is he?" Orihime stared at her son, realizing that he must now have noticed the hollows and his own father in Shinigami form.

"I can't tell you right now, Akira." His face fell and Orihime's heart ached as she closed the door behind her. "A little later when your father comes back, okay?" He nodded and they sat on the floor, hugging each other tightly. Kohana whimpered behind them and Orihime picked her up and placed her on her lap. A loud crash was heard outside the house and they all jumped at the sudden sound. Orihime hugged her children tighter to her body and she then heard a loud roar right behind her.

"Orihime!" Ichigo's voice yelled. She turned her head and the hollow was inside the room, its mouth wide open and heading straight to her and the kids.

"Santen Kesshun!" She instinctively called. The protective yellow barrier appeared before them, the hollow hitting its head at the barrier. The barrier broke into pieces, but it had slowed the hollow and given Ichigo enough time to shunpo into the room and dig his blade into its head. Blood gushed out and the hollow deteriorated.

All eyes were wide, except for Kohana who had all of a sudden stopped crying. Her eyes were slowly closing and she soon fell asleep, her breath going into a soft rhythm.

"Well, that does it. You okay, Orihime?" She nodded and then cleared her throat, trying to point out that their son can see him, but Ichigo didn't get the hint once more. "Are you thirsty? I can go down and get water…"

"Otou-san?" Akira asked out loud. Ichigo went still and confusedly looked at Orihime and back to his son. "What was that monster that you fought?"

"Oh… um… I'll be right back." Ichigo stepped out of the room and the little boy stood up quickly and followed his father.

"Akira, come back!" Orihime placed her daughter softly on the bed and quickly followed behind the both of them. She stopped her son right before his bedroom and spoke softly to him. He looked quite angry for a bit and just stared at the floor. Ichigo came out, back in his regular body and picked up his son.

"We're going to have a little talk. A big secret that can only be kept in this family. Are you man enough to hear it?" Ichigo tickled his son's stomach in order to calm his son's nerves and even his own. He laughed and nodded his head. "Okay, come on. We're going to the big room." Ichigo walked inside the bedroom of his and Orihime's and closed the door behind. Orihime looked down the hallway and smiled. She walked downstairs to the kitchen in order to prepare dinner: Ramen.

Half an hour later, the whole family came down, Akira being first to the table and Ichigo behind him holding Kohana. He placed her in the baby seat and brought down the small table top before her, locking her in place. Her large brown eyes scanned the room and on her face was a large toothy smile. Orihime placed the food before them and got out the baby food for her daughter. They all began to eat, of course one being a bit messier than the others, and when Orihime was done, she had finally looked at her daughter and laughed. Kohana had laughed along as well, although in her mind, she had no idea why. Orihime grabbed a paper towel and gently cleaned off the food remains off her face.

"It looks like as if half of her food was on her face," Ichigo jokingly commented.

Akira excused himself and went upstairs to his room. Suddenly, Kohana began to squirm in her chair and called after her brother.

"Okay, okay. You're getting out, don't worry." Orihime picked her up out of the chair and set her down. Once Kohana's feet touched the ground, she wobbly ran to the stairs and slowly went up, following in pursuit of her brother.

Ichigo began to collect the dirty dishes on the table and Orihime began to protest, but it seemed as if he wasn't hearing her.

"Ichigo, you really don't have to do the dishes. I can do them, you know."

"I know you can do the dishes, but you already made dinner. So, I'll do the dishes while you relax." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and she smiled to herself. She decided to head upstairs as well; she needed to think as to how she's going to tell him that she's pregnant… again. She was then brought back to the time when she had first told him that she was pregnant with Akira.

**Five Years Ago**

It has been a little more than two months since the newly wedded couple had come back from France. Orihime flushed the vomit down and brushed her teeth quickly as to get the taste out of her mouth. She opened the door and saw that Ichigo was standing next to the bathroom, a worried look on his face.

"Ichigo-,"

"Don't you dare tell me that you're okay. You've been throwing up this whole week! I'm taking you to the doctor's right now."Orihime didn't try to oblige, she knew he would take her no matter what. Heck, he would even tie her up, with love of course.

Once they arrived to the doctor's, Ichigo waited in the waiting room and Orihime began to explain to her the symptoms. Suddenly the doctor chuckled and Orihime looked up at her oddly, wondering why in the world she was laughing.

"Orihime, have you taken a pregnancy test? I mean, I assume you and your husband are sexually active…"

Orihime furiously blushed, thinking as to how "active" they really were. She replied with a soft no and her doctor pulled a pregnancy test out of a drawer and handed it to her.

"I think you should take one now, just to check." She gave her a kind smile and Orihime went in the bathroom. She just looked at the pink box and nothing else. A minute probably went by and finally she opened it and thought, _Might as well…_

Eyes wide, the word 'pregnant' blinked before her and Orihime leaned against the bathroom wall, not believing what she was seeing. She suddenly jumped from the sound of knocks on the bathroom door, but she soon calmed down from hearing the calm voice of her doctor.

"Orihime? Is everything okay?"

She opened the door and didn't say anything. She only passed her doctor the stick and sat down in the chair next to her.

"Ah, so you are pregnant. Congratulations."

"Yeah…"

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you here a lot more for monthly check-ups." Orihime nodded and was led out the door.

Ichigo immediately stood up and his heart sank when he saw Orihime's pensive face. "Orihime, what's wrong?"

"Hm?" The healer looked up at her husband, having her mind out of the clouds. "Oh! I'm fine! I just, um, have to tell you something. At home." She immediately walked ahead of him towards their car, trying to keep herself from bursting out loud that she's pregnant. Already.

"Okay…"

The car ride to their house was silent, Ichigo was itching for her to just tell him the news already and Orihime was biting her lip as to keep herself from telling him the news. Finally they got home and once Ichigo had closed the front door, he sighed and quickly said, "Okay, what is it that you have to tell me?"

"I'm pregnant." Orihime burst, unable to keep it in. She looked up at him and he only blinked back and Orihime felt her heart sinking as each silent second ticked by. "Ichigo! Aren't you going to say something…?"

"You. Are. Pregnant. We're. Gonna. Be. Parents." Ichigo managed to choke out. Orihime sighed and turned around, but suddenly, she was quickly spun around and kissed fully on the lips. Wide eyed from the sudden action, she looked at the man before her, confused. "I can't believe it! I'm so happy, Orihime! Oh man! We're gonna parents!"

Orihime began to smile then laugh. "So, you're happy about it? You're not mad or anything?"

"Mad? Why in the world would I be mad? I'm ecstatic! I mean, Orihime, we just did a miracle right here." He put her hand on her stomach and smiled. "The miracle of life." Orihime began to tear up and hugged the man she loved so much.

**Present Time**

"Orihime? Are you okay? You have that dreamy look on your face again." Ichigo chuckled and sat beside his wife on the bed.

"Remember what you told me when you found out that I was pregnant with Akira?" She suddenly asked.

"Yeah. I said we just made the miracle of life."

"And we've done it again. For the third time." Orihime stared into the eyes that she could never get tired of seeing and then she saw the smile from the lips that she loved to kiss.

"You're pregnant again?" She nodded and Ichigo hugged her tightly, the both knowing that would never let each other go.

**Ten Months Later**

A soft hum was heard within a nursery room, and Orihime stood above a crib with a baby girl inside. Ichigo stood above another crib that had a baby boy. And so Rai and Masahiro Kurosaki slept peacefully in their new and safe home.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Fin.

* * *

Here's what each of Orihime's and Ichigo's kida names meant (or from Google baby names at least):

Akira: intelligent

Kohana: little flower

Rai: Trust

Masahiro: Wise

Thank you again for everything. Hope you enjoyed it and please review. :)

-MiszIceQueen10


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